Rachel Sennott

Speaker 1 The holidays are nothing, nothing without family, friends, and flannel. The flannel you can always count on? Well, for my money, that would have to be from LL Bean.

Speaker 1 It's the shirt you wear when you pick out the tree or you eat a candy cane.

Speaker 1 It's the shirt when you come down and you look at all those presents under the tree. You've got that shirt on from LLB and that flannel.

Speaker 1 All those holiday traditions, I'm going to get on a toboggan and roll down this hill. Yeah.
I've got got to wear that shirt. I've got to wear that LLB and flannel.
Oh, look, it's Santa Claus.

Speaker 1 Hello, Santa. I hope I'm wearing that LLB and flannel.
It's all things cozy. Ah, it's effortless.
It's made to last. LLB.
They know what they're doing and they have for a very long time.

Speaker 1 Go check out LLB and Flannel. Invited to the holiday since 1912.

Speaker 1 Macy's has a new parade this year, a parade of deals.

Speaker 1 So if you're standing on the street waiting for that parade to go by, because you took this literally, you're going to be wasting your time. Wake up, kids.
It's a parade. Where is it?

Speaker 1 A parade of deals. What?

Speaker 1 Kid crying. Every day from now through November 27th, Macy's is featuring a new must-have deal that will last only one day.

Speaker 1 We're talking about daily deals on things you'll love, like a super cozy UG fluff throw. Hey, try and say that.
Even if you say it slowly, you'll probably mess it up. Ugh fluff throw.

Speaker 1 an upgraded Dyson vacuum. That's nice.
And some of your favorite fragrances, hair products, jewelry, too. Oh, and don't forget, Black Friday deals start November 10th.

Speaker 1 So remember, this isn't a real parade, it's a parade of deals. I was fooled.
Don't bring a balloon and get all excited. Your daily thrill starts now.
Shop now at Macy's.com or in store.

Speaker 2 Hi, my name is Rachel Zennett,

Speaker 2 and I feel included about being Conan O'Brien's friend.

Speaker 1 Fall is here, hear the yell. Back to school, ring the bell, brand new shoes, walk and loose, climb the fence, books and pens.
I can tell that we are going to be friends.

Speaker 1 Yes, I can tell that we are going to be friends.

Speaker 1 Hey there. Welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.
I am joined, as always, and I'm very fortunate to be joined, by Sonoma Sessian and Matt Gourley. Hi.
What's going on, gang?

Speaker 1 Well, our very own Eduardo is actually going to do a career day at a high school to discuss what he does here on this show.

Speaker 1 This is true.

Speaker 1 Wait, so how did this unfold?

Speaker 1 I have a cousin who teaches at Alta Loma High School in Rancho Cucamonga. He kind of knew what I did and was like, wait, who do you work for?

Speaker 1 And he said, maybe you should come speak to my students. Cool.

Speaker 1 I think so. And I was really like up for it.
And I was like, yeah, I'm totally down for it. Let's do it.

Speaker 1 And then I was telling these guys that it hit me yesterday that I'm terrified about speaking to high schoolers tomorrow.

Speaker 1 I don't know how to market what I do. So maybe you guys can give me some pointers on, like, how would you, Sona, you have practice with this.

Speaker 1 No one is tighter with the high school community than I am. Oh, no, no.
Especially in Rancho Kucumonga. You are speaking my language.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Well, you know, one of the things I would say is if you were talking to people that know the podcast, and a lot of people do, it'd be very easy, but you're going to be talking to kids who may not know what this is, but they know what podcasts are, right?

Speaker 1 I called my cousin as I had that panic attack and I was like, all right, prep me, what's my audience? And he's like, look, there's a chance a lot of them don't even know who Conan O'Brien is. Yeah.

Speaker 1 And I said, great, because I was going to start with that. So that gets me nowhere.

Speaker 1 But then I thought to

Speaker 1 gets me nowhere. According to my cousin, not to me, I should say that was my instinct.
No, no, and don't I don't take offense to the phrase, Conan O'Brien gets me nowhere,

Speaker 1 which maybe we should replace needs a friend. I say that every morning when I wake up.
Yeah, but then I'm brushing your teeth.

Speaker 1 Then I thought, okay, who are some guests that we've had on that maybe would resonate? So I was like,

Speaker 1 the first person that came to mind was Billie Eilish and Phineas. I was like, oh, that's a guest I could probably pull and point to.
Yeah. Are there any other guests?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 Yes. You know, whenever I don't know what to say to kids, I just bring up I know Ram Emmanuel and it kills.
Perfect.

Speaker 3 What grade? What age?

Speaker 1 I mean, it's freshman through

Speaker 1 all of high school. Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 Like Ryan Reynolds or Hans Solo, you know?

Speaker 1 Okay. Yeah.
Okay. I mean, I don't know that Hans.
No, Don Solo. Deadpool.
Ryan Ryan Reynolds would help us. I thought about Al Puccino, but then I was like, no.
No, they don't care. No, they don't.

Speaker 1 They don't. That's like saying I knew Woodrow Wilson.
Woodrow Wilson came in.

Speaker 1 Have we had the K-pop Demon Hunter girls on yet? No,

Speaker 1 you would score.

Speaker 1 See, this is Catrix.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I'm in. Hey, I'm in.

Speaker 3 Are you?

Speaker 1 6'7? What a choice? Oh, my God. That was so uncomfortable for me.
I didn't think about saying 6'7 like a bunch of times. Just say 6'7.

Speaker 1 I had some some young people uh in the philippines shout six seven at me and i you know i don't know what happened is 69 done

Speaker 1 you're making it

Speaker 1 in my life yeah

Speaker 3 it's been done for a while you don't do that and like you might remember when people were like turn to page 69 and everybody would giggle yeah we don't do is that no it's 6'7 now okay what is 6'7

Speaker 3 no one says so exactly now this is awesome no one says well no adam has kids who are a little older than ours.

Speaker 1 My kids say it all the time.

Speaker 1 They couldn't really tell you. When I ask them what it means, they do that and they say the 6'7.

Speaker 1 But is it 6'9-related? No,

Speaker 1 not at all 6'9 related. It comes from originally from a rap song.

Speaker 1 Correct. Oh.
Talking about Lamello Ball, NBA player. This is your opener.

Speaker 1 6'7.

Speaker 1 What does that have to do with podcasts? Do we do anything? No thing. Can I say something? I would say never mention the podcast or what you do.

Speaker 1 Even though you've been invited there to talk about what you do, it's career day. Just show up and go like, hey, 6-7, everybody, 6'7, yo, yo, yo, 6'7.

Speaker 1 And then talk about how you like Billie Eilish. And then maybe talk, look up what's the latest thing that's trending that's gone viral.
I was going to show a clip

Speaker 1 of you on hot ones, maybe? Yeah,

Speaker 1 there you go. This is who I work with.
Oh, no, no.

Speaker 1 People buried in graveyards know that I did. hot ones.
Yeah. So, I mean, I'm talking about corpses, corpses, long dead corpses of pilgrims.
Okay.

Speaker 1 People that died in the 1600s know that I did hot ones. Sure.

Speaker 3 Do you think if he shows them, if the if he shows that clip, though, will they be like, Who is this guy?

Speaker 1 Or do you think they'll be like, Oh, he samson? They will say that lady looks insane. That's what will happen.

Speaker 1 That lady looks like she's in great distress. I hope that lady recovered mentally.

Speaker 3 Can I say, I do think that a lot of kids in high school will know who you are.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I do.

Speaker 3 I remember making jokes, but also you hosted the Oscars, you've done a lot of stuff.

Speaker 1 And high schoolers love the Oscars. They're all over it.
I do. They'll remember my costume changes.

Speaker 1 They'll be all over it.

Speaker 3 I don't know. I think that a lot of people know who you are.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 I think to give you real advice is the more you can just keep it personal and grounded and just about this is what I do.

Speaker 1 You know, you listen to podcasts or when you hear of them, because everyone, they're listening to some podcasts. You don't realize what the technology that goes into what you actually hear.

Speaker 1 I mean, that's cool stuff. Yeah, I did think about setting up like a little faux podcast setup in the classroom and maybe

Speaker 1 having them sit and just play the role of host, play the role of guests. No, you're really good at setting up a faux podcast studio.

Speaker 1 Nice.

Speaker 2 Well, and you're cool.

Speaker 3 You're just naturally very cool and likable, so you should be fine.

Speaker 1 I really like that. It's a long prayer.

Speaker 3 They can be very intimidating.

Speaker 2 High school kids.

Speaker 1 It's three periods that I have to speak to back to back to back.

Speaker 1 30 minutes each. They're scary.
They're very scary.

Speaker 1 I'm thought you hit me i i got terrified you know what if you can you show clips at all i can yeah yeah i mean look through i don't know who we've talked to that would resonate with high school students but yeah ryan reynolds and and billy iowa there's two how many of michelle's honor came to mind oh yeah michelle's honor that's a good one

Speaker 3 iowa debris is that oh yeah

Speaker 1 this makes me think we should only be having um people that high school students know on the show for a month we should do a month of just then we won't know who they are That's okay.

Speaker 1 They'll write some notes for me.

Speaker 1 And then I'll know.

Speaker 1 Six, seven.

Speaker 1 Stop doing that.

Speaker 3 I don't know what I'm doing. You guys are killing it.

Speaker 1 I never birthed it.

Speaker 3 I know, but like when you start saying it, that's when they're like, ugh, no, now it's lame.

Speaker 1 But I'm not trying to say it to do it.

Speaker 1 Now I know ASAP Rocky.

Speaker 3 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 You should just say, I work for someone

Speaker 1 who knows ASAP Rocky.

Speaker 1 He's in a movie with ASAP Rocky. And then they'll be like, we don't know who she is, but

Speaker 1 ASAP Rocky, yeah.

Speaker 1 Yes, I love it. Okay, so get ASAP Rocky on the podcast now that you brought him up.
He says he wants to do it. Anti-the creator.
He says he wants to do it.

Speaker 1 But he said it in that way like, I got to get rid of Conan.

Speaker 1 Hey, I should do your podcast someday.

Speaker 1 Man, I got to go.

Speaker 3 And then he's suddenly unavailable all the time.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Okay.
And I keep calling him, and Rihanna picks up. And she's like, he's not here.
And I hear him in the background. Good, honey, good.

Speaker 1 Good, honey, good. Good, honey.

Speaker 1 Good. Just as I instructed.

Speaker 1 Who says just as I instructed? Well, apparently. Good honey, good.
Good, honey, good.

Speaker 1 That's how he talks.

Speaker 1 That's ASAP for you. Or as I called him when I first met him, aka Rocky.
No, you didn't. No, I didn't.
I'm just kidding. Oh, my God.
I would have been horrified. Oh, my God.
A.K.A. Rocky.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 And he went, it's ASAP. And he went,

Speaker 1 I suppose.

Speaker 1 You rapper, you. That's what I said.

Speaker 1 Okay, honey. Well, I'll report back.

Speaker 3 All right. Yes, I want to hear how this goes.

Speaker 1 I do too. I want to hear how it goes.
Unless it went badly, and I don't want to hear a lot about how they knew

Speaker 1 nothing about me. That's going to be horrifying to me.
Yeah. Just make it up that they went crazy.

Speaker 1 We loved him in the early 90s, they say. My guest today is an actress, comedian, and writer who starred in the hilarious movie Bottoms.

Speaker 1 Now you can see her in the new HBO series, which she also created and co-wrote. I Love LA.
I'm very excited she's here today.

Speaker 1 Rachel Sennett, welcome.

Speaker 2 I feel included about being Conan O'Brien's friend.

Speaker 2 Okay, so that's a sentence that doesn't make sense phonetically or grammatically, but what I'm thinking of, do you remember when we both gave speeches? Yes. Well, you hosted.
I gave a speech. Yeah.

Speaker 1 What was the event? It was raising money for a children's hospital. And I remember I took a big cut of what they raised that night.
You did.

Speaker 1 That's part of my deal. And the children's hospital didn't know that.

Speaker 1 And I said, no, no, no, I get 80%. And they were like, but the children, I said, fuck that.
Remember that? Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
And the children were there crying.

Speaker 2 And they were upset. And you said, too bad.

Speaker 1 Too bad, bitches.

Speaker 1 But other than that, it was lovely. It was other than that,

Speaker 1 they would have raised a lot of money. They would have.
They raise actually tons of money, even still, the 20% that they got to keep.

Speaker 1 I want to start. I know we've already been talking, and I've been really looking forward to this because

Speaker 1 you came to my attention when I saw bottoms. I was really charmed by it.
I really liked it a lot. And then this morning, I woke up early because I'm jet lagged from, I was shooting in another country.

Speaker 1 And so I, I, I watched it again this morning. Bottoms? Bottoms.
I watched it this morning. Oh, my God.
And I was just like, yo. I also wonder how it hits at like six in the morning.

Speaker 1 I'm like, it feels very different at six in the morning.

Speaker 1 Guess what? It still works. It still works.
Okay,

Speaker 1 it's really funny.

Speaker 1 And down to one detail I love is the football players play on a field that has like a massive 200-year-old tree

Speaker 1 on it that would never exist on a real football field. But you guys had it there because you needed something to happen and you didn't give a a fuck.
And I loved it.

Speaker 1 And I'm sorry, I'm swearing so much. I'm not going to do that anymore.
Are we not supposed to swear? No, no, I'm just doing it too much. I'm not saying that.

Speaker 1 I know, but I'm doing like I'm just a sailor that just came on curly. It's cool and edgy.

Speaker 2 Yeah. It's making me want to swear.

Speaker 1 Well, I shouldn't do it. It's not right.
It's not right. It's not right.
I heard you were coming on the podcast and I thought, well, I don't know what Rachel's promoting.

Speaker 1 And they said, well, she has this new show. It's going to be on HBO.
We're sending you five episodes. And I thought, five?

Speaker 1 You know, I'll watch one, I'll deign to watch one because my time is so precious. And last night, my wife and I click on, we watch one, love it.
And I go, there's another one. We watch two.

Speaker 1 And I say, another one. We watch three, another one, four.
And then my wife is always going to bed at 9:30. And she's like, I think I have to go to sleep.
And we're watching another one.

Speaker 1 And suddenly I'm Mussolini yelling in the house. Screaming at your wife.
Yeah, yeah. Screaming at my wife.
Dogs, cats. And I watched five of I Love LA, and it's really, really fun.

Speaker 1 So that's my compliment up front.

Speaker 2 No, it's huge. I feel like I do the same thing when people send me like a chunk of stuff.
And I was saying this to you before. It's like, I'm like, I'll skim through.

Speaker 2 I'll write down like three moments that I like, and then I'm done. And then I can reference them and be like, see, I like all these three moments.
I watched the whole thing.

Speaker 2 So watch it, unless you're lying to my face, but that's okay. Cause I felt

Speaker 1 a sociopath.

Speaker 1 me too. Fine people, please.

Speaker 1 Why did we have to have her on?

Speaker 1 I hate it every second I've been on. I hate her on.
Get her out of there.

Speaker 2 No, but

Speaker 2 that means a lot because I think like we wanted to create that driving, like my favorite shows that I watched in college are like those Sunday night shows where you leave and you're like, I can't wait for next Sunday and I want to know what like I want that poll.

Speaker 2 And also like, it's very much of the generation, whatever, but I hope that it's funny to everyone. You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 And you brings you into the world and doesn't feel like this is only for these people. Like, it's for, hopefully, for anyone who wants to watch a bunch of girls text each other and

Speaker 1 hook up with people and talk. And, you know,

Speaker 1 well, I might be a pervert, but you're also describing my life. Yeah.

Speaker 1 You're like, um, that's my Wednesday, honey.

Speaker 1 Me and the girls.

Speaker 1 Matt is constantly texting me and sexting me.

Speaker 1 And then we get together and we have a Haley Bieber shake. And, you know, so we know what's going on.

Speaker 1 We know what's going on. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Did you identify with one of the characters more?

Speaker 2 Did you feel like you're like, I'm totally a Tolula?

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 I'm Team Maya.

Speaker 1 Isn't that your character, Maya? Team Maya. Yeah.
I identified with the fact that I came from the East Coast,

Speaker 1 Boston, then went to school in Boston, then left in, this will really date me, but 1985 with my writing partner, Greg Daniels, and we went to LA.

Speaker 1 And I thought I had been dropped on the surface of Mars. And your show is very much about someone who comes from New York.
Yeah. And you come to LA.

Speaker 1 and you think your friend is coming with you and then she doesn't. Yeah.
And you have to make a go in LA. And I have to tell you, I remember that so clearly.
And so, yes, the references changed.

Speaker 1 There wasn't social media. There wasn't the kind of business that your character's working in.

Speaker 1 There wasn't oat milk. There wasn't, you know, chai.
We didn't have that.

Speaker 1 But what I remember. Disaster.

Speaker 1 You guys.

Speaker 1 When you came here, there was no milk either. There was no milk.
Yeah, there was no money. There was no Haley Bieber smoothie.
And there was, yeah, there was.

Speaker 1 There was war rationing because World War II had just ended.

Speaker 1 So they put an embargo on all Haley Bieber smoothies back then because they knew she'd be born in like

Speaker 1 Haley Bieber smoothie for the war.

Speaker 1 Victory garden to make your Haley Bieber shake. So that didn't exist.

Speaker 1 But what I remember is, you know, when you worry about the references, the references can change, but the fundamental elements don't change, which is it's horrifying to come out to LA when you grow up in that other coast.

Speaker 1 And I was horrified. I hated this place for a year and a half.
Absolutely hated.

Speaker 2 It was just short for the amount of time to hate it, to feel like, what the fuck is going on? You know, like, I also just felt like weird.

Speaker 1 Like everyone was like, you talk so fast and you're really stressed.

Speaker 2 Like, it's like,

Speaker 2 and it, like, you're like, I need to get on your guys's level, but I can't.

Speaker 1 You know, it's crazy. Yeah.
You can't. Dad and I are the locals who are like, it is fast.

Speaker 1 I feel scared about going to New York.

Speaker 3 Yeah, that's why I get scared too. Same thing.

Speaker 1 The rhythm's different. Sona has been my assistant for a really long time.
And Sona came with me. I think it was 2011 or 12.
And you came to New York. And Sona has grown up here.

Speaker 1 She freaked out about cabs. I remember you freaking out about cabs and saying, I don't want to sit in there.
Other people have sat there too.

Speaker 3 You make me sound like such a princess.

Speaker 2 But I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 You were. It was weird.
It is weird.

Speaker 3 It is weird.

Speaker 3 But, you know, it is, it's a completely different rhythm on the these.

Speaker 1 It's so much more interesting.

Speaker 2 You're like, I have my car that I cry in and I eat luncheon out of a container.

Speaker 1 I have it in my car. Yes.
I puke in my car. Yes.
Not in a stranger's car with other people's puel.

Speaker 1 No, you have your like, your haven and your space.

Speaker 2 And then it's, it's so jarring and weird. And then like, you, I feel like also once you've lived on both, you're never over either.

Speaker 2 Like it feels like I'm like, I, it's like I forever have like two boyfriends or divorced parents or something.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 2 You're constantly, it's a push and pull.

Speaker 1 And people always say to me, they want me to declare, yeah, LA sucks. I like New York.
Or, you know, I'm done with New York. It's LA, man.
And it's not, neither one is true.

Speaker 1 Now I like them both. I see the strength of both.
I think there are cliches about LA that just aren't true. Yeah.

Speaker 1 I think because LA is a much larger surface area, there's There's so many different neighborhoods that are constantly, I mean, everyone gets gentrified eventually, but they keep inventing new neighborhoods where artists can live.

Speaker 1 And I think there is amazing art, artistic output in Los Angeles. It's just not shoved in your face.
You can't just walk down into Greenwich Village and there it is.

Speaker 1 Meanwhile, in New York, I don't know how an artist would survive in New York now because it's everything's a gap.

Speaker 2 Everything's an actual gap.

Speaker 2 I was like, yeah, there's a gap of,

Speaker 2 and then I was like, no, a gap.

Speaker 1 No gap or a Zara. It's a gap in a Zarsara.

Speaker 1 A friend of mine and I were walking around and we tried to find CBGBs and it's like a Varvado store. Is it?

Speaker 1 And we were in this store and we were looking at the old CBGBs and we were trying to remember, how does this layout?

Speaker 1 What layout? And a guy who worked there who was trying to show us like a jean jacket said, oh, no, no, the stage was over here. You know, ignore these beautiful pants.
This was the stage.

Speaker 1 And that's where the talking heads performed. Yeah.
And that's where the Ramones were. And I'm just like, the Ramones were by the blazers.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 And you're like, fabulous. I can feel the history in here.
Wow. The $90 t-shirts.

Speaker 1 That's where Blondie performed.

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Speaker 1 You inhabit this other world that I have some familiarity with, which is writer/slash performer. I mean, you've written so much, pretty much all the stuff that you've been in.

Speaker 1 Haven't you written just about everything?

Speaker 2 I guess starting, beginning of my career, so Io and I did a Comedy Central series, like web series together. That was like three episodes.
Shiva Baby, my I didn't write.

Speaker 2 My friend Emma Seligman, who directed it, wrote. And then Em and I wrote bottoms together.

Speaker 2 And then

Speaker 2 this I wrote. This was the most I ever thought as an actor, or like on set, I'm like barely thinking about acting because I'm directing.
I directed the finale.

Speaker 1 Right. You wear a lot of hats.

Speaker 2 I wore it. It was, it was, yeah, it was like, and then prepping and then we're rewriting stuff, but then we're editing the show while we're shooting it.

Speaker 2 The good thing is my character is like stressed.

Speaker 1 So I was just like i don't have to go you know what i mean like you should make all of your characters stressed yeah i kind of have in a way yeah it's like i'm kind of either stressed or stupid or both it's like one of the i inhabit there's like two sides to me and the is somewhere in that space a stressed stupid young woman yeah

Speaker 1 whenever i

Speaker 1 ever sit their car yeah if i ever have to pitch you something if i write a script and i want to pitch pitch it to you i'm going to start everything with a stressed stupid woman

Speaker 1 Moves from LA to New York or New York to LA.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 2 But it was, it was like,

Speaker 2 you know, this, it's like balancing those things and being like, kind of which role do I need to be the most today?

Speaker 2 Like there was a day, like, there are some days on set where I was like, I'm more of a writer today than an actor. I'm directing today.

Speaker 2 But then there were days, like, there was a day that I had like a multiple sex scenes, which by the way, oh my God, this was so funny because it was like all the sex stuff in the show, I'm like, I wrote or was in the room for writing.

Speaker 2 And I think like for me, like sex and stuff, like sex, if you're going to show it in a show or a movie, like it should be like funny. It should tell you something about the relationship.

Speaker 2 Cause I think if I look at my relationships, I can immediately tell like where we are based off of like how the sex is. Do you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 Definitely. Okay.
Do you feel that way too? You're talking to the wrong guy. Okay.

Speaker 1 I'm literally a virgin. I just mean, okay, sorry.
I agree with you. I agree with you.
Do you know what I know you mean? No, explain what you mean.

Speaker 3 Well, it's very different in the beginning than it means.

Speaker 1 Explain what is sex. Oh, sorry.
When it goes where. Okay, totally.
Show me what stalls. Oh, God.

Speaker 1 No, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding.

Speaker 1 But anyway.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I know what you mean.

Speaker 2 Yes, yes. Like, where I was like, I want all of the sex to feel like it's in the show for a reason, reason, basically.

Speaker 1 Well, the pilot episode

Speaker 1 opens with you and your boyfriend having sex. And what's funny about it is an earthquake.
I'm not giving anything away because it's literally the beginning of the first episode.

Speaker 1 And I thought it was a really good opening. It's L.A., so there's an earthquake.
And he's like, oh, my God, there's an earthquake. But you're close to orgasming and you just want to keep it going.

Speaker 1 Yeah. So you tell him, I think it'll be all right.
It'd be all right. And then he's, the earthquake stops, you keep going.
And then the earthquake starts again.

Speaker 1 And he's like, no, I think we really have to get out of the building right now. And you're like,

Speaker 1 I'm almost there. Can you just choke me?

Speaker 1 And I was like, okay, there's a familiarity here that happens when you're in a committed relationship. Yes.

Speaker 1 There's a familiarity, but there's also, and a little, it's, yes, it's a little like utilitarian. Yes, it's almost like, do the three things that I need really quick.

Speaker 1 One, two, three. Like, I'm almost there.

Speaker 2 You did want me to finish it, finish her off.

Speaker 1 Right. You know, so it was not

Speaker 1 to your point, it was not in any way gratuitous. It was funny.
Yeah. And it was telling me right away how your character's funny.
These people are connected in a very familiar way. Yes.

Speaker 1 And so, yes, you're right. It was not just we open on sex scene so that we can get the viewers in.
It was, it accomplished a purpose.

Speaker 2 It accomplished a purpose.

Speaker 2 But it was, it was really funny to me on this specific show because like we, of course, had an intimacy coordinator, but she would like, I would have a conversation with her as like the showrunner and be like, you know, like we want to hear what the actors are comfortable with.

Speaker 2 Ideally, this scene accomplishes like this sort of feeling or like, we'd like to shoot it this way, whatever. And then she would call up the actors.

Speaker 2 But so I would have the conversation with her as the showrunner and she would be like, totally. And then she calls me like 30 minutes later and she's like, so this is what they're thinking.

Speaker 1 I'm like,

Speaker 1 I just talked to you.

Speaker 2 She's like, You tell me what you feel comfortable with

Speaker 1 in the script, that's hilarious.

Speaker 2 In the script, you're giving a blowjob.

Speaker 1 Yeah, do we even want to go there? I'm like, I wrote that. I'm like, What?

Speaker 2 And so, she's like, I know, but but are we gonna do that? And I was like, Yes, yes, like, so that was so funny and sort of bizarre, like, going at that from like two angles, whatever.

Speaker 2 Yeah, there was a day on set where I had like an emotional scene, and then like, I'm not going to say what it's happening because it's, it's sort of gives something away, but sort of two sex scenes in a day.

Speaker 2 Sort of, it was like sex scene, sex scene, lunch, beans for lunch, and then, and then, like, emotional cry scene. And that day, I was like, today I'm an actor.

Speaker 2 Like, today I was like, and that's when you have your team of other support. Like, I'm like, Emma, if there's questions about alts,

Speaker 2 you got it, girl. I'm naked and I'm crying.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 but then on another day you put on the other hat and you're like today I can answer the questions about that so it was it was interesting like balancing those but like finding what thing you were leaning more into on the day if that makes sense well what makes sense to me is a lot of my career starting with the late night show i can use my thinking head when we're thinking during the day when we're working on the show and then when it's time to go it's 530 guests are here band is playing i need to get makeup on and I need to let all that go and then be the guy who's just in it.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And if the guest puts something out there that's a surprise, drop everything you thought about.
Yeah. And go that way.
Go there. And go there because that's what's happening right now.

Speaker 1 And I found that. I don't know if you can relate to this as an East Coast Catholic.
What I can, you know, you're Italian, is that right? Half, half Sicilian, half Irish. Okay, my God, you're screwed.

Speaker 1 Well, I, as an, as 100% Irish, and, but we both come from very similar stuff. And what I can relate to is there's this combination of restraint and busting through the restraint.
Yes.

Speaker 1 And that's where this magical thing happens. Yes.

Speaker 2 But we like control.

Speaker 1 We like control, but also we secretly love the loss of control. I know.

Speaker 2 Sorry. I almost was like, girl, yes.

Speaker 1 You can call me, trust me, you can call me girl.

Speaker 2 I was just saying that, I mean, that's the whole Catholic thing. That's why that.
It's a yin-yang.

Speaker 1 That's where, yes.

Speaker 2 that's why it's like, it's like, you're like, why are you, why are you guys freaks? Not saying you're a freak, but I'm just saying Catholics. Do you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Cause you're like, you have, you live in this push and pull of like control, not control, whatever. But I feel, yeah, I'm always reaching for control, whatever.

Speaker 2 But the most beautiful things happen sometimes when you just are like in flow, free flowing.

Speaker 2 And you're right. It's like those things are a gift.
And like when something goes wrong on set or whatever, it turns into the funniest moment or the most beautiful moment.

Speaker 2 But I feel that way too, where I'm a planner. I like to know what's happening.

Speaker 1 Which is fun, which is good. That's the lesson of all of this is it's not good versus bad.
It's you need both.

Speaker 1 I mean, another part of this that I find fascinating, which I know nothing about, and I'm freely admit I know nothing about it, but you play someone who you're best friends with somebody.

Speaker 1 She's an influencer. You were helping her be an influencer.
The idea was you were both going to move out to LA and you're going to manage your friend who's an influencer.

Speaker 1 She decides to stay in New York. You go it alone.
And so you're working at a company where you're managing or helping to take care of influencers.

Speaker 1 I know nothing about that, but I also know that it's a huge part of an industry right now, maybe the industry. I haven't seen it depicted yet.

Speaker 1 I was watching the show and I was thinking, oh my God, you're right.

Speaker 1 These influencers who make a funny video or a meme and they're holding a bag a certain bag they that is a business yeah they're making a lot of money yeah they're they're they're getting sent a lot of products and of course there'd be a management system for them and i don't know anything about it yeah i mean no one's people actively don't want me making videos where i hold a product yeah i actually want that i'm like afterwards we'll do a video of you in this bag i have yeah

Speaker 1 i've been paid a lot of money not not to do it not to hold a purse

Speaker 2 yeah exactly no but i felt like like, I'm so happy you say that because we kept talking about the show, like a reference point being like entourage for internet girls.

Speaker 1 Yep.

Speaker 2 Because we were like, I feel like we've seen Hollywood done a lot. And I feel like the internet is such its own world and business.
And it's not separate from Hollywood. There's crossover.

Speaker 2 But I think like I was like, This is how I came up. I came up being online.
Any of my friends who are like working in this industry now came up online. I also know people who just do that.

Speaker 2 That's their only job is like the internet and their videos or fashion or whatever.

Speaker 2 And so I think also like the internet, people like sometimes struggle to show the internet in film and TV because it moves so quickly.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 It's evolving so rapidly that if you try and depict it and your project isn't coming out for nine months,

Speaker 1 by the time it comes out, people are like, well, that's lame. Yeah.
No one does that anymore.

Speaker 2 It's very dated.

Speaker 2 And so I was like, the way we tried to do it was make our own internet in the show where it moves and lives and breathes in the same way like the internet does, but we don't reference anything specific.

Speaker 2 It's like exists in the same way as it does for us, where it like informs all the characters' lives.

Speaker 2 It's part of their lives and their business, but we don't, it doesn't, hopefully, doesn't feel clunky or like, yeah, we, we get it. You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Yeah, because no one wants to see the other thing we kind of took from Entourage is like, you don't see too much of like Vince acting.

Speaker 2 You see like his world and his like friend group and their dynamics, but it's like, you, that's what he does, but you don't see it. Like, it's like, we don't need to see Tallulah posting every second.

Speaker 1 Like we get it. And the Dick Van Dyke show, which is the, you know, oldest reference I can come up with.

Speaker 1 It literally starts.

Speaker 1 That show show literally starts before I was born. So it's old even for me.

Speaker 1 But when I was growing up, that was a show about, for you kids out there listening to this interview, that was a show about a comedy writer.

Speaker 1 And that had not been depicted yet because I think this is a time when, you know, people are, everything's so meta now. People all know behind the scenes.
Everyone's so savvy.

Speaker 1 But back then, people honestly didn't think that

Speaker 1 writing, you know, that that's just Lucy. Lucy's kooky.
No, no, no. She has writers and they work all of this out.
And it's, but so it was a show about a comedy writer.

Speaker 1 And what they never did was they never really showed you the sketches. Yeah.
And I thought it was all them. Well, I think we got it for today.
And then it was about their lives around that.

Speaker 1 And it's the same thing. Yeah.
All these years later, I always, it's pulp fiction. Yeah.
They never show you what's in the suitcase. It's just a light.
And it's such a smart thing to do.

Speaker 1 But that's Tarantino saying there's this thing that's incredibly valuable. Yeah.
And everybody wants it. And you don't even need to know anymore.
No. Yeah.
That's the whole concept.

Speaker 2 That's what matters. Yeah.
What you said about the Dick Van Dyke show,

Speaker 2 which I'm familiar with, but haven't really given it a full dive in.

Speaker 1 Maybe I don't know. In black and white.
Okay. Just in black and white.
Check it out. I'll colorize it for you.
Okay, perfect.

Speaker 1 You'll put it in little 30-second clips and you'll cut it together with a video of someone playing with slime next to it.

Speaker 2 And then I can watch it.

Speaker 1 It'll be someone unwrapping. Yes.
Unwrapping a box, box and then Dick Van Dyke's in there doing his shtick. I love it.

Speaker 2 In 10-second clips, I'll go, ooh.

Speaker 2 But like, the same thing. The other thing is I was like, nothing is really new.
Like, I think I felt certain times during this where it was like, I've got to make something totally new.

Speaker 2 And like, you know, you're going to be compared to things and you want to do your own thing, but it's like.

Speaker 2 Everything is like from what comes before it, but you have to take, you know, your own blend of references and ideas. At the end of the day, people are people.

Speaker 2 like relationships are like this era the moment of like your late 20s is always oh i want to know about if you had a saturn return did i ask you about that what a saturn return no i don't know what yeah is that are you going through yours right now No, I'm 32.

Speaker 1 Okay. Wait, what's that?

Speaker 2 A Saturn return is like end of your 20s.

Speaker 1 Oh, oh my God. I thought you were going to return a car, the Saturn, because of a defect.
That's where I went.

Speaker 3 So I thought, well, if you're not happy with the Saturn, do you think Joe couldn't return her Saturn because she's 32? Joe couldn't return

Speaker 1 a policy that they have. That car company has been defunct for 15 years, at least.

Speaker 1 I only know because Jick Van Dyke drove a Saturn.

Speaker 1 Jick Van drove a black and white Saturn.

Speaker 1 I want to know about this.

Speaker 3 Yeah, like.

Speaker 1 Okay, so you're into astrology. I am.
Okay.

Speaker 1 Tell me what Saturn return means.

Speaker 2 Okay, I have so many questions. I'm going to maybe need to pull up your chart or like dive in.
Because do you know what sign you are?

Speaker 1 I'm an Aries.

Speaker 2 An Aries.

Speaker 1 Yeah. What does that mean to you? If I say Aries.

Speaker 2 In Aries, you're a Virgo with a backbone.

Speaker 1 Okay, I don't understand. Okay, totally.
But you're a Libra. That's kind of a pussy.

Speaker 1 Do you know?

Speaker 2 Do you know you're rising in your moon?

Speaker 1 No, I don't. Okay, we'll find it later.

Speaker 2 But basically, an Aries is like fire. Right.
Don't mess with you, but you have like an order to you.

Speaker 2 Like you could have a, you, a temper isn't what i would say but it's like fiery and it's like don't mess with me don't mess with the people i love say i have

Speaker 1 i can be intense you can be intense you can i think because you're particular about how you like your comedy to be yeah and i think if people hinder that or or overwork you in a certain way there's so many things that i don't care about and then if it comes to comedy yeah something where I'm supposed to be funny, if someone's getting in the way, I become like an insane Viking.

Speaker 1 Yes. With a broad sword.
Yes, you have your hills that you'll die on.

Speaker 2 You're like, this is what I care about.

Speaker 3 Are they very passive-aggressive, Aries?

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 3 Or are they just aggressive?

Speaker 1 I think that's the Catholic.

Speaker 2 I think that's not astrology. I think that's something else.

Speaker 1 So tell me.

Speaker 1 We're made up of all.

Speaker 1 But let's get to this thing because you talk about it in the show, and it's really fascinating because I've had this experience of, well, I know exactly when it happened, but it's happened a bunch of times.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 When I'm in New York, I go, we do sometimes tape podcasts in New York when I'm there, and we do them at SiriusXM, which is in Midtown, right across from Rockefeller Center, my old stomping ground.

Speaker 1 And I'll go into the lobby, and there have been a couple of times where there was one time in particular where there were a bunch of young women who I think were waiting to gather to go to lunch.

Speaker 1 And they saw me and they came over and they said, Can we get a selfie? And I said, Sure.

Speaker 1 And I just started chatting with them about how's it going, what's up, and gave them a little bit of advice, probably like the advice I gave you, because I'm constantly lecturing young people.

Speaker 1 But at one point, some of the women started talking about, oh my God, I'm so old. And I said, How old are you? And they're like, We're 28.

Speaker 1 And I like, I wasn't eating anything, but I started choking on imaginary food.

Speaker 1 I was doing a spit take with no water. I was like, What are you, you're 28? And you're talking about how old you are.
And I forgot. That just sounds insane to me right now.

Speaker 1 But I do remember getting out of college, moving out to LA, turning 23, then turning 24 and thinking, oh my God,

Speaker 1 it's over for me.

Speaker 2 It's so over.

Speaker 1 And so

Speaker 1 I basically yelled at these people and said, you have no idea how young you are, but I know that your character has her 28th birthday and it's kind of traumatic. And I think, what?

Speaker 1 What is the Saturn returns?

Speaker 2 It's so it's like three years, but there's like a period in it. It's different.
It happens sometime between 27 and 30.

Speaker 2 And it's basically like your reckoning of like, I feel like it shakes up your life, which is why I'm interested to hear like if you can remember something from the end of your 20s.

Speaker 1 You bet I can. Yeah.

Speaker 2 You bet I can.

Speaker 2 And I'm guessing it's your sudden return because it shakes everything up. And then, like, you go through a breakup or you lose a job or you blah, blah, blah, whatever, something chaotic.

Speaker 2 And by the way, I've got a huge one. Can't freaking wait.
But it's like, you feel like you said that in a way, like, please don't ever tell me.

Speaker 1 No, I love it. Fucking wait.

Speaker 1 Shut up. Go ahead.
That's okay. It's okay.

Speaker 2 I was just saying it's like, it happens to everyone, but it feels like it's only happening to you. And then it lands you where you're meant to be.

Speaker 1 Oh, it's kind of, but tell me your story. Oh, it's so simple, which is

Speaker 1 I'm 29. I'm a writer-producer on The Simpsons.

Speaker 1 Everything should be good, but I think, no, I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Something else is supposed to happen.

Speaker 2 It feels weird.

Speaker 1 I just was, and I remembered my agent at the time saying, well, you could get an an overall deal to be at the Simpsons for five more years and you could make, you know, and I was like, no, no, I can't take that because something's supposed to happen.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 One of the crazier things in show business happens, which is there's only like, there's, there's David Letterman doesn't get the tonight show and he suddenly announces I'm leaving, which no one thought he would do.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And suddenly NBC doesn't have a late night show at 1230.
They don't know what to do because this is back before the internet. So today they would look at seven years

Speaker 1 TikTok, there'd be a million people who were viable and there'd be 900 hours of everybody. Yeah.
But they don't have that. Yeah.
And these jobs back then,

Speaker 1 there were two late night talk shows. That's it.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Or just at that point, it was just one or maybe two. And

Speaker 1 the main guy, David Letterman, has left or is leaving, announces he's leaving soon in a couple of months.

Speaker 1 They don't know what to do. So NBC says, well, we got to keep the affiliates in line.
Let's just get Lauren Michaels to decide. And that calms everybody down.
Like, oh, good.

Speaker 1 Lauren Michaels signed out live. He'll figure it out.
Lauren goes looking. It's a long story, but cut to him just in a room saying, there was this writer who worked for us who's got something,

Speaker 1 Conan O'Brien. And they're like, what?

Speaker 1 And I do an audition.

Speaker 1 I'm so loose in the audition because I think I'll never get this.

Speaker 1 And then one thing leads to another. They say, no, it's going to be Gary Shanling.
It'll never be you. And then suddenly they go, you know, it's him.
And they call me.

Speaker 1 I'm in the basement of The Simpsons and they say, you're going to take over this massive job. There's no footage of you.
Everything I'd ever done was on stage. Yeah.
There's nothing.

Speaker 1 I don't even have a headshot. And everyone freaks out.
And that's what happened. That's a pretty common Saturn return.

Speaker 1 But, you know, that was

Speaker 1 how I and

Speaker 1 that all happened. Uh, the audition, everything happened when I was 29.
Yeah. And then I am waiting to hear back, and I have my 30th birthday in my LA apartment on Weatherly.

Speaker 1 And then a couple of days after my 30th birthday, you get the call. I get the call.
Yeah. That your life's going to be a bad thing.
Saturn return, bitch.

Speaker 1 Saturn

Speaker 1 turned.

Speaker 1 What was your Saturn return? Working for you.

Speaker 3 Getting my job working for you.

Speaker 1 Oh, that's right.

Speaker 3 You were in your late 20s. I was 27.
Well, 26, and I turned 27. And that changed, that changed my life.
I've been working for you.

Speaker 1 It's been

Speaker 1 cool. It's been okay.

Speaker 1 Wow. Ringing a doorbell.
It really has.

Speaker 3 I mean, it's like everything changed once a week.

Speaker 1 What about you, Matt? Well, mine was, yeah, I went through a really bad breakup and just took a month off work and

Speaker 1 had the same lunch every day at this bar and went home and watched, got high and watched a James Bond movie. You showed her.
Yes, that was real nice. Oh, she could see me now.

Speaker 1 Well, I started thinking, I'm going to read every Shakespeare play. And it was like in two days, it was like, I'm just going to watch every James Bond movie.
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 And that was that for about a month. And then I look back on it so nostalgically now.

Speaker 1 It was a hard time, but now I'm really fond of it.

Speaker 2 No, but it shapes you. It shoots.

Speaker 1 I went through a bad breakup in New York that was prior to all this. And I remembered I got a Seamus Heaney poetry book.
Oh, my God. I kept it in my back pocket.

Speaker 1 And I would lie down on park benches in Manhattan and read from a poetry book. And I thought, this is who I am now.

Speaker 1 And then three days later, I was like, I got to get a job.

Speaker 1 And I went out to L.A. and worked on The Simpsons.
But

Speaker 1 I remember thinking for a minute, this is who I am now.

Speaker 1 I'm a park bitch,

Speaker 1 28-year-old who reads Seamus Heaney poetry.

Speaker 1 I'm a hobo. Yeah, you are.
You're like a romantic hobo. You're a romantic hobo.

Speaker 1 Was that the lunch I had every day was a, I went to an Irish pub and i had a corned beef sandwich a deep-fried snickers bar and a guinness every single day oh my god i know i can't believe i'm alive that's fabulous

Speaker 1 and that's why i stand before you the way i am here today you are incredible well rachel it feels to me like you've had nine of these in your teens and twenties like you've had you had mini ones you well mini ones you've you've got a very big jump on a career at a very early age i don't know i think a lot of people in my age and younger feel like there have been a lot of like setbacks.

Speaker 2 Like it's like basically like Shiva Baby was supposed to premiere at South by and then it was canceled because of COVID. And then I was like, oh my God, my career is over because of COVID.

Speaker 2 Like when is this going to end? Whatever. Then we get back into the industry.
We get to make bottoms. Bottoms comes out during the strike.
And like, there's, there's, I think, like.

Speaker 1 And you couldn't promote it during the strike? Couldn't promote it during the strike. Yeah, I remember that.
I remember that.

Speaker 2 But the girls on TikTok did it for us.

Speaker 1 Literally, literally shout out.

Speaker 2 Because I was like, they, they took the movie and ran with it. And that was amazing.

Speaker 2 But I think, like, I felt sort of a similar thing to you, which is like, basically, like, I think you get the early 20s were really chaotic. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing.

Speaker 2 By the mid-20s, I was like, not the Simpsons, but you have your, you have your stuff where you feel like, okay, I've got my thing. I know what I'm doing.

Speaker 2 And then just all of a sudden, like something feels wrong. And you're like, I don't know what it is.
And you sort of like sit in something feeling wrong for like two years

Speaker 2 or a year, whether it be a relationship or being like, I'm not quite doing, like, I'm doing what I want to be doing, but I'm not doing it all the way or I need whatever.

Speaker 2 And like, you have to make that leap. Like, I don't know if when you said, I'm not doing an overall deal at The Simpsons, your agent said, you're a fucking idiot.

Speaker 1 You did say that. Okay, awesome.

Speaker 2 And it's like, because you're like, I don't have the next job. I don't know what it is.
I feel something. I, for me, like, I think it was like the jump of

Speaker 2 fully stepping into a creator role on my own. It's really scary.
I think I've always felt insecure in myself as like a writer on my own.

Speaker 2 I just, in general, I feel like I'm like, I, I feel like I'm a good like. pep talker, cheerleader.
I get like, I get to-do lists done, but I never really thought like I'm that talented.

Speaker 2 I, in, in general, I think I'm just like more of a hard worker than I am talented.

Speaker 1 But that's, you know, that that's how everybody feels.

Speaker 2 I think being hardworking is, is a good part of it.

Speaker 1 No, but that's how I would have, I mean, everybody has that. Yeah.
Not, I, I don't, that's just so common. Yeah.

Speaker 1 That, um,

Speaker 1 you know, I, I always thought that, well, I get by because I work because I do work. I can outwork anybody and I do my homework.
Yeah. And then it was was a long time.
And look,

Speaker 1 all these years later, I still have those days. Yeah.
We all have that.

Speaker 1 When you show me someone who is an artist of any kind and they have no insecurity and they have no doubt and they have no fear, I think I have no interest in seeing their art. None.
I just have none.

Speaker 2 But it's, it's scary.

Speaker 2 And it's like, there's a difference between being in someone else's thing and being a part of it and knowing like, well, if it doesn't go well, I can say, Hey, I'm just the actor, or like, I just did, I didn't, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Like, I had no control to step into a role where you're like, oh, if people hate this, they hate me. Like, not actually, but kind of.

Speaker 2 Like, I'm like, I, there's no, I'm like, it's like, my name, my name. I'm like, it's me.
It's, I'm naked in it. I wrote it.
I'm like, it's very vulnerable.

Speaker 2 And so I like, while I was in the process of waiting to see if the show got picked up, I had like done the pilot. I was waiting to see if the show got picked up.

Speaker 1 This is HBO. You're waiting here.
This is from HBO.

Speaker 2 And I am like having to say no to other things.

Speaker 2 And it's really scary because I'm like, I don't know if the show is happening. I don't know if I'm good enough.
I go through a breakup. I get arrested in the Cayman Islands.

Speaker 1 It's that was my

Speaker 2 and this all happened in one month.

Speaker 1 What happened in the Cayman Islands?

Speaker 2 I brought, this is on me, but I brought a CBD joint in my bag. It was, I didn't even do it on purpose.

Speaker 2 It was like I had like a leftover CBD joint that I bought in a grocery store in like the back of my purse. And then they really search your bag, like they search your bag.

Speaker 2 She's like taking out my vibrator. I'm like, girl, put that away in the middle of the airport.
Like they search your bag. And she was like, do you have any drugs on you?

Speaker 1 And I was like, I do not have drugs on me.

Speaker 2 So then like, I was like, like, why would I have drugs? But then I didn't know CBD was also illegal. So then she finds the CBD.
So then I got in trouble for lying about the drugs.

Speaker 1 The Caribbean Islands is the hub of white collar crime and they bust you for a CBD. That's insane.

Speaker 2 And I was, they took my phone away. Shout the fuck out Claire, my assistant who's out there.
You met her. She thought I was kidnapped.
So they take my phone. and my passport.

Speaker 2 I'm in jail for like five hours, nothing. Claire thinks I've been kidnapped because she's calling the hotel.
She's like, has anyone seen Rachel?

Speaker 2 Some people at the hotel had seen me getting into an unmarked white van. So then, Claire, which is how they take people to jail, there, what the fuck? And so then, Claire's like, She's been kidnapped.

Speaker 2 So then, Claire's like calling the embassy.

Speaker 1 Claire is a good assistant because Sona, in the same situation,

Speaker 1 if they said, We've heard reports that Conan's gone, he's not at his hotel, he's been taken in a white van, you'd be like, All right, well, let me know. Yeah, in the club, slightly hit in the clubs.

Speaker 3 I'll be like, Is the joint okay?

Speaker 1 And tell me more about this joint.

Speaker 1 Can they mail it back?

Speaker 3 They should send that back to us.

Speaker 1 They should mail it back. I might need to look at that.
I should look at that. Keep him.

Speaker 3 Give me the joint.

Speaker 3 Are you scared?

Speaker 1 Or were you pretty confident?

Speaker 2 I was scared. I think I was also just having a breakdown in my life where I was literally like, I don't have a show.

Speaker 2 I just turned down these other jobs.

Speaker 2 am like in the middle of a breakup with my boyfriend and now I'm in jail. I was like, wait a second.
I was just like, I got got really freaked out where I was like, I was crying in there.

Speaker 2 And then I started telling the girl about my breakup. And

Speaker 2 it was just all, anyways, Claire called my lawyers and they knew a lawyer on the Cayman Islands who came and got me out of jail.

Speaker 2 So it was, it was all fine. I just had to apologize on camera and get a mug shot.

Speaker 1 And I do have a record there. It's okay.
I love it. This is, I mean, I know I wanted it.
It's badass. It's badass.

Speaker 2 I wanted the picture so bad. I was like, please send me the mug shot.
They did let me put on makeup for the mug shot, which was, I thought, really sweet.

Speaker 2 I was like, I've been traveling. I'm sweating.
She was like, you can, you can go into your bag for mascara.

Speaker 2 But that was all like in one month. And then I got back.
from the Cayman Islands and the show got picked up.

Speaker 1 That's great.

Speaker 2 And then it was my birthday, my 29th birthday. So mine maybe came a little earlier than yours.
But now I just had my 30th birthday right before the show comes out.

Speaker 2 So it's, it's very like, it feels like, I don't know, it feels like a very like mystical time where everything is like shifting and whatever, but I felt so out of control Yeah, that whole time and I was like, I don't know why I just feel like I have to trust.

Speaker 2 Yeah, but it's that same thing where it's like, you don't know.

Speaker 1 Well, here's what I'll tell you. I am very confident that people are going to love your show.
I am. And

Speaker 1 because I know youth culture.

Speaker 1 No, no, I

Speaker 1 Dick Van Dyke references. It's really well done.

Speaker 1 Your show is really well done. I am confident that people are going to really like this show because I was binge watching it and

Speaker 1 really impressed. And I think you're very impressive.
I thought so when we got to talk and I met you.

Speaker 1 And I'm a huge fan and I'm just excited to do, to see all the things you're going to do. I really am.
So just we're going to wrap it up because I want to let you go and make more cool things. But

Speaker 1 I'm a cheerleader. I'm an old daughtering cheerleader myself.
I love it. And I'm really happy for you.

Speaker 2 I'm that really means a lot. And especially you watching all in a row means a lot to me because I know you've seen,

Speaker 2 I'm like, you thinking it's funny means a lot because you're the funniest. So that's sweet.

Speaker 1 Thank you.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I thought I'd bring it sincere at the end.

Speaker 2 Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 This is amazing.

Speaker 1 Thank you so much for doing it. This was great.
This was great. And you came in and hugged everybody.
And I've never touched these people.

Speaker 1 Anyone ever look us in the eye?

Speaker 1 I haven't met you until today. It's nice to see you.

Speaker 1 I'm sure a lot of you out there are plain Coca-Cola people, and that's respectable. Trust me, I'm one.
Yes, I am. You've many times seen me just, I like to order just a regular Coca-Cola.

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Speaker 1 Hey, Sona, quick question. You were talking about something that intrigued me when I entered the room, and then you quickly changed the topic.

Speaker 1 I got the sense that you are babysitting, even though you have twin four-year-old boys who take up a lot of your time. Why are you taking on a babysitting gig? What's going on?

Speaker 3 My friend has a baby who's about nine months old, almost nine nine months old, and um, they just need somebody for just a couple hours.

Speaker 1 What are you doing this for?

Speaker 3 For funsies.

Speaker 3 Can I tell you something?

Speaker 1 No, you don't get to talk on this podcast. Okay, all right.
This is a podcast. You asked me questions.
White men bloviate.

Speaker 1 You be quiet. I'll handle this.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you take over. Thank you.
I'm going to pass the ball over to the other white guy.

Speaker 1 Listen, Star Wars.

Speaker 1 Here's what I don't understand. I don't understand.
You have twin boys.

Speaker 3 Yes, I do.

Speaker 1 And Mikey and Charlie. And they are a handful.
Sure are.

Speaker 1 Excuse me? Did you say handful? Yeah. Handful.
No, handful.

Speaker 1 I changed it. It's when you.

Speaker 1 Never mind.

Speaker 3 What were you going to say?

Speaker 1 Handfill?

Speaker 1 What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? What is your fucking problem? What are you talking about? What are the fuck, man? What are you talking about?

Speaker 1 What are you talking about? Were you going to say something really inappropriate? Yeah. No,

Speaker 1 it's all coming out.

Speaker 3 It's all coming out.

Speaker 1 I mean, I'm editing it out.

Speaker 1 No, you're not going to edit. Oh, so if I make a mistake, it stays in.
Yeah. And if you become.

Speaker 1 That's the only thing I have in my life is that.

Speaker 1 I don't know what he's talking about. What I'm saying, I misspoke slightly and said handful instead of handful.

Speaker 3 Yeah, we both made fun of you. It was fun.
We had a good time.

Speaker 1 It's funny that Conan's bleeding into his brain. Come on.

Speaker 1 So as he ages, he's falling apart. Ha ha.

Speaker 1 But that's not what we're going to talk about. You have twin boys who are very young.
How old are they? Three. They're four.
Four.

Speaker 1 Still, that's very young.

Speaker 3 Yeah, they are.

Speaker 1 And then you took on, you were like, hey, throw that nine-month-old my way.

Speaker 3 Well, so here's the thing: my kids go to school, and then, you know, I'm working on my second book, but that's really all I've got going on.

Speaker 1 Are you doing this just to get more material? And then chapter 15. Oh, but here.
I got a nine-month-old.

Speaker 3 I have to say, I had twins, and we were really in it. And now I'm watching one baby and it's not that hard.

Speaker 3 Like babies, they eat and they like you go, you go for a walk and then they sleep and then you play and it's

Speaker 1 shaming anyone out there who's having a hard time with one child son of obsession?

Speaker 3 I'm just saying if you've had two, one after having twins is more manageable.

Speaker 1 Okay, so why don't you tell Matt.

Speaker 2 Why are you complaining?

Speaker 1 I'm not complaining. No, I know.
I agree.

Speaker 3 It's fun. It's so much fun to watch a a baby.
Are you getting paid? No, of course not.

Speaker 1 There might no need to do anything and not demand your share. Are you watching lady thing?

Speaker 3 I mean, no, not at all. I'm having fun doing it.
I like hanging out with this kid. He's a really fun baby.
He's really sweet. He has a little bit of separation anxiety, which is tough.

Speaker 3 And then, you know, we just, we're just chilling.

Speaker 1 Me and this baby are hanging out. Let's be honest when the baby's melting down and you're not happy with the gig.

Speaker 3 No, I don't. I'm being serious.
I don't. And I like it.
And I, you know what? Maybe I'll be a nanny now. Maybe this is it for me.

Speaker 1 Maybe I'm going to quit this job. Maybe so you would leave this job and be a nanny.

Speaker 1 I'm not here.

Speaker 1 Is this a resignation?

Speaker 1 She got something she could sign?

Speaker 3 I basically babysat you for 12 years. Why?

Speaker 1 You did not.

Speaker 1 I was a very emotionally mature adult.

Speaker 1 Wow.

Speaker 1 Even as I said it, my jaw felt, started to rot off.

Speaker 1 I agree with you that you did babysit me. And I had sometimes, it was incredibly immature, I suppose.
You have to coddle a genius. Okay.

Speaker 3 What do you mean? You don't have to coddle, do you?

Speaker 1 Yes. Okay, I don't know.

Speaker 3 You're saying you're a genius.

Speaker 1 What part of that sentence did you not understand? Do I stutter?

Speaker 1 No, whatever. Handful.
Excuse me.

Speaker 1 Yes. Handful.
That's an ingenious way of saying handful. I don't like to say the things that everyone says.
I like to invent new ways of communicating. I think you're a real handful.

Speaker 1 You filled my hand with your problems. It's mine is, it just cuts through.
I guess Joyce used a lot of language that people didn't understand. Okay.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And then Joyce Kolhaywick.
She was a broadcaster in Boston.

Speaker 3 Do you know who he's talking about?

Speaker 1 You laughed really hard

Speaker 1 so hard. I'm twisting because he was talking about James Joyce and then he twisted.
Hey, you really enjoy my humor. You knew who James Joyce.
No, I don't enjoy your humor.

Speaker 1 By the way, if you grew up in the the Boston area, shout out to Joyce Kolhaywick.

Speaker 3 Shout out. Shout out to Joyce Kulhaywick.

Speaker 1 Shoot the noob.

Speaker 1 Shoot the noob with Joyce Kolhaywick.

Speaker 4 She's not the best.

Speaker 1 She was a big star when I was growing up in Boston. In local news? Yeah.
Oh, I have no idea who she was. Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 Okay. Okay.
We just lost all of everyone.

Speaker 3 You took us down a comedy cul-de-sac.

Speaker 1 Nope. I'm checking right now.

Speaker 1 You took us down a comedy handful.

Speaker 1 Whoa, look at this. Our numbers in Roxbury, Massachusetts have just gone through the roof.
This doesn't go go out live.

Speaker 1 I just want to say that I'm very happy that you're looking after this nine-month-old. Yeah.
And it sounds like a win-win for you. So much fun.
For you, a win-win-win for you, the mom, and the baby.

Speaker 1 Yeah. You know, because you're a wonderful person.

Speaker 1 I don't know. Why can't you ever just accept when I'm nice to you? Call his bluff.
Call his bluff.

Speaker 3 I've worked for you for so long. You've never just been purely sincere.

Speaker 1 You never. I have been sincere before, haven't you? Heard it.
Eduardo. I've seen it.

Speaker 3 Yeah. Because you're always nice to Eduardo.

Speaker 1 I've seen him be sincere sincere to you. Yes, thank you, Eduardo.
Thank you. When I've seen it, I've told you.
I've never seen it.

Speaker 1 We always cut it out.

Speaker 1 He calls me later. He insists that I cut it out.
Check it out. Yeah.

Speaker 3 I'm just saying, sometimes when you say something nice, I hold my breath and I wait for what's next. You shouldn't wait.
Because there's always a joke after.

Speaker 1 Listen to it. Will you say that nice thing again and see if you can just let him sit in it? Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 1 I think that you'd be a great nanny. And I think that's a lucky nine-month-old and a lucky mom that's tricked you

Speaker 1 into working for free.

Speaker 2 I know your face.

Speaker 1 Yo, you know my face?

Speaker 3 Yeah, I know your face. You're not doing, no, that's not.
Oh, I'm not doing anything.

Speaker 1 That's the worst. No, I'm very sincere.
Oh, my God.

Speaker 3 That's the worst.

Speaker 1 Where's my camera right here?

Speaker 3 I know when you're being sincere, your face is not.

Speaker 1 You mean a great deal to me.

Speaker 1 I really respect you. You've been a great friend, and I trust you.
I trust you more than I trust anyone. Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 Who do you look like? I look like someone who just drank sour milk. Yeah.
I look like an emoji that just drank sour milk.

Speaker 1 God bless you, Sona.

Speaker 3 Yeah, I'm having fun.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and I think it's a great idea for you to leave this very lucrative gig and go nanny for free. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend with Conan O'Brien, Sonam Ovesian, and Matt Gorley. Produced by me, Matt Gorley.
Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Frost, and Nick Liao.

Speaker 1 Theme song by The White Stripes. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino.
Take it away, Jimmy.

Speaker 1 Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering and Mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns.

Speaker 1 Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn.

Speaker 1 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 Cocoa Hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message.

Speaker 1 It too could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at seriousxm.com slash Conan.

Speaker 1 And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

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Speaker 5 I'm Elena and I'm Ash and we are the hosts of Morbid Podcast.

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