Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

Danny McBride

March 24, 2025 1h 0m Episode 334
Actor, producer, and screenwriter Danny McBride feels very righteous about being Conan O’Brien’s friend. Danny sits down with Conan to discuss his first on-air appearance as black belt Fred Simmons, researching megachurches while creating The Righteous Gemstones, and writing larger-than-life characters that believe unquestioningly in themselves. Later, Conan reveals his latest act of unparalleled generosity. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com. Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847.

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Full Transcript

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hi my name is danny mcbride and i feel

very righteous about being Conan O'Brien's friend.

Nice.

Nice.

And a little plug for the series, Righteous Gemstones.

I like it.

That was very well done.

Thought out.

Fall is here.

Hear the yell.

Back to school. Ring the bell.
Brand new shoes. Walking blue.
hey there welcome to conan o'brien needs a friend joined here customarilyarily by Sodom Obsessian and Matt Gorley. Good to see you both.
Good to see you. Very excited about our guest today.
Normally we don't talk about the guest in this part of the segment, but we just taped with the guest, Danny McBride. And Danny McBride, I'm walking him out.
We had a great time. It's a really fun interview..
I love this interview and we've been wanting to get him for a long time. Yeah.
And we're walking out on the way out. He went, Hey man, I got a gift for you that I brought for you.
And I didn't know what it was going to be. And he's fishing around his pocket.
He takes out what looks at first like a very expensive pen. And then he said, it's a dick light.
And it's a light that shines a penis onto things. What? It shines a penis, I believe, onto.
Oh, I see it. Yeah, yeah.
It's a little guy. Yeah, I've had girls say that to me.
What? Oh, I see it. Do you want to try shining it on the wall? Well, I don't think it's.
Does it not turn off? Yeah, there it is. Oh, a dick.
a dick. Where? I see it.
It's right there. I don't see it.
I don't see the dick. Oh, there it is.
Yes. Yay.
There's never been more call for it. That's what she said, but I'll leave it at that.
There you go. Yeah.
So anyway, this is what Danny McBride gave me. At first, I thought he was giving me a Mont Blanc pen, you know, and I thought, oh oh i can't accept this but uh this is what he brought me and i can um i can now shine a cartoon penis on anything at any time what are you gonna do with that what are your plans i'm going to the opera tonight downtown and i'm going to make sure that there's a penis head on that's a cute little dick.
I thought it was a vape pen. Yeah, I didn't know what to expect.
I didn't expect this. I thought it was a dick pen.
Yeah. Oh, that's cute.
Yeah, not since Johnson biographer Robert Caro have I been given a dick pen by a guest. This is nice.
You can use it for drunken frat parties when you don't want to leave like permanent Sharpie on somebody's face. You know, it's nice.
It's considerate. Yeah.
You don't want to draw. And also the time it goes into.
Here, you play with it. Yeah, you two at drunken frat parties.
Let me just ask. Oh, seriously.
A guest, Danny McBride, brought a gift and it is the kind of gift that a lot of his characters would probably have in their pocket. Yeah.
Sorry, this just recalled. And you can cut this part, but I just remember not too long ago, Jamie Foxx got into a fight because I guess he was at a dinner somewhere publicly and somebody from upstairs was shining one of these pens.
Why would you edit that out? I don't know if we want to put that business out there. What are you talking about? That's a fine...
Someone was shining and like... Well, because it is like a laser pointer.
The headline is, and this is from TMZ, it's Jamie Foxx laser penis pointer sparked dinner altercation. Beef with jackass crew.
Oh. Oh, so Jamie Foxx is somewhere, and the jackass crew is above him.
Right. In a separate area of the bar restaurant.
Still at it. And they're shining a penis light so that a penis shows up on jamie fox he becomes enraged mr chow's in beverly hills oh that's a wow you know that's a fancy restaurant and if i go to mr chow's in beverly hills which i don't i'm not allowed in because of my own dick light incident several years ago no but if i went there and someone was doing that to me i mean that's the last place i would think that would happen that would happen.
But anyway. It's a laser pointer, though.
It's not really a flashlight. It's a.
No, no, it's a laser pointer. But when when deployed, it makes this, I guess, very cartoonish looking male genitalia.
Yeah. And then you can shine it on people.
All that to say, be careful or else you're going to get your ass beat.

What's that?

What do you say?

All that to say, just be careful where you point that.

Because what happens?

Is that considered an insult?

It depends.

It depends.

It could also be an invitation.

You know, like, hey,

see you from across the room.

Click, clack, you know?

Or it's like you're going to be shot

with a dick sniper gun.

You know what I mean?

Right, there's a sniper

who's going to fire a dildo at you. Yeah, like a skyscraper across the way.
Yeah, exactly. It's the aiming mechanism for a dildo.
A dildo gun. A dildo gun.
Okay, sure. Anyway, it's a gift.
Guests don't often bring a gift. And I appreciate this.
Yeah, we can count on one hand. Jimmy Kimmel brought barbecue.
Right. Randall Park brought like cheap liquor store whiskey.
No. Wait a minute.
No. What the fuck was that? And he brought pirouettes.
Cool it. And he brought the chocolate.
Hey, he also. That was part of its charm.
He went to the liquor store and got like snacks and cheap booze. Okay, well, maybe presented.
I wasn't even judging him. Maybe presented a little better the next time.
He also brought a drawing he did of me in a nice little frame. Yeah.
Which is one of the worst drawings of me I've ever seen. It was terrible.
Beastie Boys brought fruit tarts. I didn't know that.
Yeah. Billie Eilish and Phineas sent a bunch of milks afterwards.
That's right. Every kind of milk.
Every kind of milk. Kaylee Cuoco sent us little equestrian mugs with candies in them.
And she sent it to the two of us.

Like,

why didn't I get a dick laser pointer?

Well,

I think it's probably,

you know,

not PC for you to get a dick.

You get a vagina one.

Yeah.

Oh,

those are,

yeah.

Those are,

and those are harder to find because they're hotter tickets.

Nobody wants that.

Nobody wants that.

So,

um,

yeah, no, it's, uh, it happens every now and then, uh, uh, a, uh, Nobody wants that. Nobody wants that.
So, yeah.

No, it happens every now and then.

Oh, no, in Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Remember, he gave me 65 acres of land in Austria.

What?

Yeah.

What?

Yeah.

This is for you.

It's land in Austria.

I hope you enjoy it.

Remember that?

And I've seen it. It's beautiful.
65 acres up in the the Alps it's incredible yeah it's amazing lucky yeah well I mean but you know what I say that Danny McBride dick lighter 50-50 yeah oh Chris Martin gave you a little guitar yes he did and honey and honey Honey. And Honey as well.
Yes. For Liza.

That Dakota that was for Liza.

That's right.

Honey.

That's right.

That's right.

He gave me like it's almost mandolin-sized tiny little guitar.

And he wrote on it.

And I play that at home.

Yeah.

It's really nice.

It's got a nice bright tone.

That's right.

And.

You weren't there for that.

No.

No, that's the one where I went to,

Chris Martin.

I know.

Lovely fellow, by the way. I bet.
He is. Well, we wouldn't know.
Wouldn't know. No.
No, that's the one where I went to Chris Martin. I know.
Lovely fellow, by the way.

I bet.

He is.

Real nice.

Well, we wouldn't know.

Wouldn't know.

No idea.

We didn't get anything.

Yeah, that's kind of the way it should be.

He also bought us lunch.

Oh, fuck you.

Yeah.

Sorry.

Sorry.

Was it just a big pot of honey?

No, delicious sandwiches and cookies.

We all ate there in the sunshine.

And he gave us pins.

He all gave us little love pins. So nice.
Oh, that's true. true how's the cult going he gave us a lot of cool stuff yeah then he gave us robes to wear yeah and then he told us that yeah we had to live in a certain compound yeah that was amazing I would love a Chris Martin compound Julia Louis-Dreyfus deviled eggs no I just made that up now I'm'm making them up.
That's a funny make up. I like those

that make some up.

Michelle Obama

gave me a scrimshaw.

She gave me a scrimshaw

that she had made

of a three-masted schooner

on a whale's tooth,

which was pretty cool.

Okay.

So that was fun.

It was a really nice one to have.

We've stopped talking

in hopes that you'll

move it along.

Yeah.

I'm just going to pretend I'm looking for something. I might need a tissue.
Yeah. Al Pacino gave me a grill for my teeth.
It says thug life on it. Remember that? And then he took me to the dentist and the dentist put it on.
He went with you to the dentist? That's so nice. He was like, where's this to the dentist.
What is this impression? That was him. He was melting.
I didn't realize he was made of ice cream. My guest today, we should get into it, right? My guest today, as you know, is a hilarious writer, producer, and actor.
Also a very generous man.

And he's the force behind such shows as Eastbound and Down, Vice Principals, and The Righteous Gemstones, which is currently airing its fourth season on Max. And this is a man we've wanted to

talk to for a while. I've met him before, of course, because I travel in those waters,

celebrity waters. But you guys, everyone here

has been so jazzed. Danny McBride, welcome.
You know, I have to start, this is the most obvious

place to start, but I have to start with How I Met You, which is one of my favorite things ever. back in 2006

you're a complete unknown

and you make this movie

called

The

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The

The

The

The

The

The

The

The

The

The

The

The

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The

The

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The The The The The The but I have to start with How I Met You, which is one of my favorite things ever. Back in 2006, you're a complete unknown, and you make this movie called The Foot Fist Way.
And I think I got a call from Will Ferrell, who's just saying like, this guy's really hilarious. You have to have him on the show because Adam McKay and Ferrell had seen the film and they were giving it a big boost.
You got to have Danny on the show. So we booked you on the show

and your concept was to come out as Fred,

what's his last name?

Fred Simmons.

Yeah, Fred Simmons.

That's right.

And we used to love to do shit like this on Late Night.

We didn't tell the audience anything.

And they don't know, you couldn't do this now

because you're Danny McBride,

but they didn't know who you were.

The movie was just about to come out.

You're a complete unknown. So you come, I just announced you and you were, we talked about it.
And you said, I want this announced as like, this is just the real deal. We have a guy here and he's going to give a karate.
A karate demonstration. And he works with these kids and you brought these kids out.
And I'm sure you can see this on YouTube or wherever and you come out and what you have to remember when you watch this clip is everyone in the audience thinks I'm totally dead serious about it I never give up that this is and you come out and you start trying to get the kids to break boards and do stuff and when it's not going your way you start yelling at them and getting really mad at them and the kids look a little upset and i'm looking at the crowd and the crowd is horrified and it's great it's one of my favorite things one of my favorite memories of a almost 30 year late night career is you out there going, come on, get over here. Where are you going? And you're shouting at them.
It's not going well. And I think it ends with some of the kids getting upset and running away.
And then you get mad and you run away. And I'll never forget.
I'm standing there in Studio 6A, which is where Letterman had his late night show and I had my late night show. And you would just run away and everyone's run away.
I say, I played the part of looking kind of like a confused, upset host. And I just went, okay, I guess we'll figure this out and we'll be right back.
Go to commercial. Max and the band start to play.
And these two guys who are about 19 or 20 years old are sitting right near the front row and they go like, Conan, what the fuck? And I went, guys, I don't know. I don't know.
I didn't even tell them because I thought that's breaking the rule. I didn't say that.
Breaking the illusion. So we did that.

And then you do foot fist way.

And then you go on to all this crazy success

and well-deserved, by the way,

but Eastbound Down, Vice Principles,

Righteous Gemstones, movies.

Everybody knows and loves Danny McBride.

And I'm thinking there's something I really love

about that moment in time when no one knew you and you're being a total asshole. I often wish I could go back and do it again.
That was the first time I'd ever even done press. Like I had never even had an interview before.
I'd obviously never been on a late night show. And I remember I couldn't eat for like two days before we did it.
I was so nervous about what we were doing and it was so much fun. And you're right, you played along and it felt like we were really offending people and upsetting people.
I think after I was on, we looked online and there were people were mad about it. They were like, they should take his school away.
He shouldn't be allowed to be around children. He shouldn't be allowed to be around kids.
And the kids were good. The kids didn't let on at all.
Not at all. And it was perfect because it was kind of this mini scandal.
Like this guy lost it on kids on Conan's show. It just made me so happy.
And I remember thinking like a lot of people. And then I saw Foot Fist Way and The Foot Fist Way.
And it's's a really funny movie you mine a similar area in all your different characters where you're not particularly good at something or legit but you have this fervent belief in yourself oh yeah so you're not good you're trying to build up this school you're trying to teach martial arts but there's one film there's one part in the movie that set everything apart for me which is that you're trying to show in the movie who this character is at one point i don't know if it's your i think it's your wife comes home or your girlfriend she comes home and you want to play a prank on her and i'll never forget this it's and i have not gone back and looked at this since so i'm probably misrepresenting little bit. But your idea of a prank is you jump out with a knife and you go, ah, like that.
And she goes, ah. And then you just go, ah, just a prank, fuck you.
And I'm like, who says? And I remember watching it, and this is back in 2006. So I'm sure I had like a DVD or that they gave me or something.
You know, there was no, today they'd send me a link to watch the film, you know? Not as special. Yeah, but whatever.
I got a brick of some kind and fed it into a machine that doesn't exist anymore. And when you jumped out and did this, it's not a prank, first of all, but then when your response, when the prank is, you do it and then you go, ah, fuck you.
And I was just, it blew my mind. And I was like, I've got to know this Danny McBride.
Who is this Danny McBride? I think it's funny to play characters who have terrible senses of humor. Yeah, yeah.
No, it's, that's why I was so jazzed about you coming on the podcast is I thought I've encountered you many times in life, but we've never really had a chance to have a conversation. And I'm such a big fan of yours.
And I just want to know, how does a Danny McBride happen? You know, I mean, first of all, I know that you grew up in Georgia and rural Virginia, and you've described yourself as kind of a latchkey kid. Yes, yes.
So what are you doing? You got a lot of alone time? You know, I was born in Georgia, and then I actually, like, lived in Lompoc, California for a little bit, really young. My dad was a guard at the prison there, and so I lived on the prison reservation where all the other families of people who were working in the prison lived.
We were there, I think, for maybe about four years. And it was crazy.
It definitely was a nutty place to live in the backyard of a federal prison. Were you scared ever or no? You know, the only time I ever really thought about it was there was one night I can remember that the sirens went off at the prison.
And my dad came in and made my sister and I like go into their room and we had to shut the door and I'm like looking out the window and he's getting a shotgun and like jumping into the back of a pickup truck with all my friends' dads, like there was, had been a jailbreak and they were like going out to go bottom down, I guess. But, uh, he had got, uh, transferred to the federal bureau of prisons in DC after that.
So then we moved to Virginia and then kind of grew up there for the rest of it. Yeah.
And you say you've spent a lot of time in the South. And you've sort of said that you didn't feel like you quite fit in with what some people would call redneck culture or whatever.
Yeah, I think, you know, my mom was from Pennsylvania. And so even like when we moved to a place like Northern Virginia, it's like that's everyone, you know, it's not necessarily just like only Southern culture there.
That was everybody moving there who worked in DC. It's a mix.
It's a mix. Yeah.
And so when you would meet, when I would meet kids with like really thick Southern accents, I was always like just amazed and tickled and liked it and would try to imitate them and try to act like I belong. but yeah, I just grew up, you know, living there, parents both working.
That was like the beginning of cable TV and video stores. And so I just, I loved all that stuff.
I was just like, I wasn't into sports. I wasn't into anything like that.
I just really loved movies and TV and, you know, and just was obsessed with it. You would find friends that were into the same stuff, which is usually what happens.
Yeah. And then, and it was very few, you know, I had only like a handful of buddies who were into that stuff.
I would try to make movies in my backyard with kids. And, and then I went to the North Carolina school of the arts and, um, for film school.
And that's where I met honestly, all the guys I still work with. Jody Hill, David Green, Richard Wright, our production designer, our music supervisor.
There's like, you know, it's people who I met when I was 18 years old. And we're guys who couldn't afford to go to NYU or USC.
We're going to like this little state like run school that is just beginning to have a film program. And I don't know.
We always just felt like outsiders there. Like we're learning to make movies in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
It wasn't like we were so far outside the bubble. I don't know.
I think it instilled in us this idea that we should all like stick together and help each other out because we were kind of living on an island so far away from all the resources that other people had. And then we just kind of kept that up through our careers.
This caught my eye. One interview said, I realized I didn't look good in a pickup truck or like a big four-wheel drive truck.
wasn't you. It was it wasn't me.
But then it was funny, like, you know, you just because we're I'm from the south. Then, you know, we lean in with something like Kenny Powers.
I think that was the perception was that. But it was sort of like that was sort of my love letter to all the assholes that I had grown up.
You're so good at being an asshole. You're so good at being an asshole you're so good at being an asshole and this is something i want to connect with you on because and this is going to get tricky because my team is going to weigh in on my part of this but i think i love being a bad guy i don't think i am this is going to get tricky, I think in my core, I...
When do we get to chime in? I meant like a few episodes from now. Okay, okay.
Like in six months, you get to chime in. But I love, I really enjoy it.
And I see a kindred spirit where you are a very nice guy. You seem like a very genuine, nice person, but you relish being a dick.
You just relish it. And it's fun.
It's a release. It is.
And, you know, I feel like with some of these characters, I feel like, you know, they're the butt of the joke. So, you know, as opposed to just delivering like one-liners and stuff, it's just sort of like embodying a complete joke,

you know,

like just making someone who is so silly and ridiculous in that.

I don't know.

I just find I have a good time.

You also have the best dismissive laugh.

Like,

I mean,

I'm not going to do it,

but you're just like,

you laugh at people,

make fun of them in,

in,

in your,

in your characters.

And,

uh,

I'm trying to think of like, there's a moment in the movie about the end of the world. Oh, this is the end.
This is the end. And there's this great part where everyone's playing themselves.
And so you're Danny McBride and they come and tell you that all these different people, you know, like all these different stars, real stars who are all playing themselves have died because it's the end of the world. And they come and tell you, they're telling you.
they tell you that Michael Cera's dead and you're like, bah, ha, ha. Like nobody wants Michael Cera dead.
Yeah, yeah. No way, and people love Michael Cera and you're like, ah, ha, ha.
Who fucking cares about Michael Cera? And it was just making me, I remember that moment, like you really popped in that movie because whose response to Michael Cera is dead is a good laugh.

I'm happy about it.

Yeah.

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Terms and conditions apply only on LinkedIn ads. I got to bring this up because you and Sona have a similar fascination, which is the Goonies.

And this is one, I'm older than you guys, so it skipped my generation. When I saw the Goonies, I didn't get it.
And then I know that Sona has built a small religion around the Goonies. I love the Goonies.
So does Matt. So does Matt.
And you like the Goonies. I love the Goonies.
Before we left California and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, I took the kids up to Astoria to go see the Goonies. I took my, before we left California and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, I took the kids up to Astoria to go see the Goonies house, to go see The Rock, to go see the jailhouse.
It was awesome. I've been wanting to go.
It was awesome. I have.
Oh, my God. Yeah, I love that movie.
I thought it was cool. I mean, I think it was just, you know, of the age, seeing a bunch of kids that are your age on TV and they're cursing.
instantly appealed to me i think when that movie came out i was 22 yeah and i thought these kids should be in school yeah i was like i was like sitting in the theater like why aren't they why are they running around a ship wouldn't be underground you know i just was i shouldn't have been seeing that movie i remember my's take on it was that it was pornographic, and it confused me about what pornographic meant. I'm like, is it? Is this pornographic? Is this? But I guess it was the language that he didn't like.
It wasn't that the kids were banging each other. I was going to say.
I was going to say. It's a generational thing.
There must be a director's cut that I haven't seen. He had the laser disc.
All the kids are just going at it. Oh, God.
Oh, come on. Like you haven't thought about it.
No, I haven't. Oh, man.
Fuck you. Really? I'm channeling McBride now.
Yeah. It's funny, though.
I've seen the was in i was shooting in another country and ran into martha plimpton yeah and the people on my crew who are again 10 15 years younger than me their hands were shaking oh yeah and i'm i love martha plimpton and i was like hey martha how are you and she'd been on the show a bunch and good to see you but i but i thought you know it's not Prince you know I mean it's you know what I mean like it's

no but How are you? And she'd been on the show a bunch and good to see you. But I, but I thought, you know, it's not Prince, you know? I mean, it's, do you know what I mean? Like it's no, but they were all Goonies fans.
I did this really small movie with Jody called a legacy of a white tail deer hunter. That was like a, a Netflix movie and Josh Brolin's in it.
I was like wanting to say something about Goonies like the entire time. And I just like felt like, oh, I got to play it cool.
And there's one scene where I'm almost dying in the scene. And he's trying to help me out.
And he's like, don't die. And then in the take, I was like, Goonies never say die.
And he just looked at me. He's like, that's the worst delivery you've given in the whole movie.
I was like, I know. I got scared.
I could see him too being not too happy. It's like, you know, I've gone on to all this other amazing work.
It doesn't matter. Can't keep bringing me back there.
You know, there's this thread that runs through, like whether it's Eastbound Down, Vice Principals, Righteous Gemstones, they're kind of screwed up Don Quixotes. They're on this quest.
And I think one of the things that makes Don Quixote and that kind of comedy or character so compelling to me is that the character fully believes it. The character is completely invested in what they're doing.
And I thought it was really interesting that you made the decision that in The Righteous Gemstones, the gemstones are not con men. They are making a ton of money off of this and it's a great business and they'll do what they have to do to grow this.
But at their core, they believe. And I think that's essential.
It has to be that way. It has to be.
I think it's what allows you to still make them feel like no matter how far into outer space the comedy might go, that there's somewhere you can kind of get back down to planet Earth by the end and kind of like have a chance to make it touching or to make somebody feel something real in it. We kind of learned that when we were writing Eastbound.
I remember when we pitched it, we were so enamored with just Kenny Powers being such a shithead and treating everyone so terribly.

And that was making us laugh.

And then there became this moment where we were like, what would make him more interesting is if he was actually good at this. And it's not like he's just a joke.
Like if he actually had talent and part of the tragedy is he squandered it. I remember that being like a breakthrough because that wasn't part of our initial pitch.
It was like, yeah, he flamed out, but the idea that he was really talented and he had something there that that's part of why he's overstretching so much is that he's like squandered something that that was in him that he kind of abused and i don't know it just was a eye-opener that like you know you can make jokes with these characters but if you can kind of like actually give them something real under there to struggle with, it just ends up giving you more room to play. Yeah.
And it enhances, it actually makes the jokes funnier. I, when I was at the Simpsons, I remembered all I was interested in was coming up with really funny ideas for stories and really funny lines for characters.
That's all I cared about and good visuals. And I thought of myself as,

I don't really care about story arc and stuff like that. I just want to be the hot gun in the room.
I want to be, you know, I want to be, I want to come up with the stuff that it's really going to be great and cutting edge, whatever. And I remember getting talked to about, it was explained to me by Mike Reese and Al Jean,

they said, you know,

that it's really important to james l brooks and to matt graining and to sam simon the thing that makes this work is that it's a family and they all love each other and i remember at the time being whatever i was 24 thinking what that's so lame you know they just watched the goonies yeah i mean but i i remembered i remembered yeah it's possible it's completely pornographic yeah i i just didn't i didn't understand that at all but i went with it and then later on realized that you don't have a show if Homer doesn't care if Bart dies. If he's that level of, yes, Homer does lots of incredibly stupid things, but he does care about his family.
If he's a sociopath, you don't have a show. And if none of them, if they're all sociopaths, you don't have a show.
And that's the kind stuff that uh my old writing partner greg daniels who

has done a million great shows uh office parks and recreation and uh just to name a few but his he was so good at he's funny he can come up with really funny stuff but he also knows that you have to care about these people as people and i think that was one of the revelations of that steve Carell was so brilliant at. Totally.

Which is, he's being such

an asshole. He's so misreading

the room. He's so not doing his job.
But you know that he's a good person at heart. Totally.
And that is such a hard thing to do. And I think that that was one of those things that resonates with me when I watch your work is I care about you.
I care about the characters you're playing because you've invested them with that. Even if they're pretty awful.
Pretty terrible. Yeah.
I love that. And I love like working with actors that get that, you know, like Edie Patterson who plays my sister on the show.
You know, I met her on Vice Principles and instantly saw that with her, that like, not only can she just deliver insane punchlines, you know, that are completely lunacy, but like she has the chops to like make you care too and to make, to hurt your feelings or to make you kind of want more for her. And I think the moment we started messing around with that kind of stuff, it just like that became what a little bit of the pull was with all the comedy.
It's like, how can we surprise people by being so foul and then weirdly underneath it all, there's like something that might resonate with people. It's a family.
Yeah. And they are, they do care about each other.
They live in this insane situation. Exactly.
They're gangsters. Yeah.
They're gangsters who believe that what they're doing is righteous. Yeah.
That was what was kind of crazy even starting the show is that, you know, I moved down to Charleston, South Carolina with my family about almost like eight years from, uh, ago. And I wasn't really sure what I was going to write next.
And once I was there, I saw a lot of the churches there and I was like on the, every other radio station is like a religious station. And, you know, I went to church when I was a kid.
My family was pretty religious. And it just got me thinking like, what is church like now? And so I started like kind of doing research on these mega churches.
And it just kind of instantly seemed like it was something that would be in one of our worlds, like the idea of like these people kind of seeing themselves as a celebrity and being, you know, big shots and just the idea of saying one thing meaning another. It just felt like it was right for what we wanted to do.
But then I would look at stuff that tackles religion, and I always kind of never – I couldn't think of anything that I really liked that had done that. I was like, oh, there's something about it that is usually too cynical or it's just bashing on people's faith.
And I don't know, it just didn't seem like it was, uh,

like it was something that I wanted to do. And so, yeah, we started writing that show, sort of like one of our mantras was like, you know, yeah, these guys believe in the butt of

the joke is never what their belief is. It's just them.
They're the butt of the joke. Their

hypocrisy is what's funny and not like what they believe in. And, um, and everybody on board the

show got down with that. They were all that, that was sort of like what everyone kind of followed.

And it'd be interesting because you oftentimes would see stuff, people would come with things,

Thank you. even.
And everybody on board the show got down with that. That was sort of like what everyone kind of followed.
And it'd be interesting because you oftentimes would see stuff, people would come with things, whether it's production design or anything that might push things too much. Like, oh, I think the joke here is that it's Jesus.
And maybe that's like not where we should get the joke from. It should get the thought process behind someone is more funny than just cheap shots, I guess.
Yeah, you don't want to be punching down. You don't want to be making fun of the faith.
You want to be looking at these people, which it is a family. They live on this ridiculous compound.
You know, I mean, I'm a big Walton Goggins fan, and I'm curious how you two came together. I know you were on Vice Principals.
Yeah, Walton, you know, I had seen Walton in The Shield and Walton came in and read for Eastbound. It was the, I think it was the third season and we ended up casting Sudeikis in that role.
He was like Kenny Power's best friend, but I mean, I always, I mean, it was just, you know, not because Walton didn't do a good job reading, but it was just like, I think we already had our mindset on Sudeikis. And, uh, but Walton just stuck in my brain at forever after that, when he came in, I was like, God damn, that guy was so funny when he, you know, and so unexpected.
And I had bumped into him a few other times through the years. And then when I wrote vice principals, uh, he just came to my mind that he was, you know, that I would like to spend some time with him.
And I felt like this was a side that he hadn't really shown people. And in all of his work, there's a comedic undertone to all of it.
You know, he's just naturally funny. And so, yeah, it was just kind of awesome.
I sent him that script, the pilot, and he called me back later on that afternoon and was just like doing the Lee Russell voice, which is the character he played in Mike's Principles. It was like, this is going to be fun.
He was here. He did the podcast.
And do you remember this? He came and he was, I think he was flying back and forth a lot to Thailand for White Lotus at the time. And so he was tired.
I came in and his people said, Walton just needs to sleep for 25 minutes and then he'll be okay to do the podcast. So he was in that room that I just saw you in and there's a couch there and he just lay down like a vampire and like put his hands over his chest and instantly went out and slept for exactly 25 minutes.
It was back. And then came, and then they like reactivated the,

you know, reactivate Goggins.

And he like sat up and he came in and he was great in the podcast.

And then probably said, now I need 17 minutes.

There's something I've always thought about in comedy,

which is one of my favorite characters.

I always go back to him all the time

is Peter Sellers, Inspector Clouseau and the Pink Panther movies. And those movies were a huge deal to me because my dad would take me to see those films.
And I never saw my dad laugh that hard. And I would be laughing, but also notice clocking my dad laughing so hard.
And I thought they were fantastic. So I introduced them to my son and we watched these movies and it took me a long time to realize what makes it work is that Clouseau, he is deadly serious.
Totally. Yeah, we never, weirdly, we never approach any of it like it is a comedy.
Like we, even when we talk to the, you know, the production designers and all this stuff, we, we, we approach it as if it's like so serious. And then that just makes it so much funnier i remember even when we sold eastbound you know they were trying to talk to us about shooting it all digitally and everything and for us it was like no we we like fought really hard to shoot on like super 16 and then even the other seasons were on 35 millimeter film and it was like there was no real reason to to do that but for us it was all part of the aesthetic of like we we can't treat this like it's just something cheap.
It needs to be approached as if it has scope and grandeur, and then all these jokes and all this ridiculousness will play then. Yeah, you're shooting it.
It's like you have to go in with the intent that we're making. I'm David Lean, and I'm making Lawrence of Arabia.
That's it. You know, wait a minute.
What's the topic again? Don't worry about that. That's it.
And I think that that comes through. It's funny how you talk about the way people want things shot.
I've heard that some executives want things to be bright and colorful if it's a comedy. They actually want it to be brighter because they want to let you know that it's a comedy yeah as opposed to trusting that you'll figure out that that what's happening is very funny yeah and more so if some i think if things are a little dark or if there's a grayness to it it's so true i remember us hearing that that like you know oh you need to get a comedy dp and we were just like what what the hell? You know? And to me, it was like, no, it seems like, you know, we don't want to play into any of this stuff.
There's not like a way to shoot it. And, you know, yeah, for us that always, it felt like if you're filming something, you should use all the tools that come with filming something.
You should be able to know when to make it dark or when to make it light. You should know when to make it beautiful or when to make it ominous and scary.
And why would you strip all of those things away

just to kind of light something bland

so that the jokes play better?

It felt like it was missing out

on what the advantages are of doing something filmed.

So I'm curious, you don't live here.

You don't live here and we're in Los Angeles right now.

In your office.

No, I've never lived here.

There was a year. There was a year where you were going through a little bit of a rough patch.
Okay. 2022.
I remember. You lived here.
You found me in the bottom of the pool that you took out. When we bought this podcast, Judy, there was a little pool out there.
And the first thing I said was, goes and so does that guy yeah exactly and that guy mcbride get him out of here but uh yeah i just it's it's interesting because i know there are people i really admire zach galifianakis is another one who he doesn't live here in la and he, he's very resolute about, no, I'm going to live with my people, my life. It's not a rejection of LA.
It's just, no, I'm, I'll do the work here, but I want to go. In your case, it's Charleston, South Carolina.
Which is, by the way, I've been there several times and I'm a history buff. I was telling you before we started the podcast that I've been there and taken the tours and absolutely, I think it'd be a dream to live there.
It's insane. You know, I'd never even been there until we shot Vice Principals and really just fell in love with the place.
And I had small kids at the time. They're still small.
They'll never grow. I won let that but you know my you know it helps if you

feed them we'll see but my wife was from Los Angeles I loved living out here I mean I was

here for almost 20 years and you know I loved it here but I definitely kind of saw that my kids if

I kept them here it wasn't like they would have a bad life but it was like there would just be

elements of my life that I feel like they wouldn't be able to experience like there was something

free about being able to get on your bike and just like cruise through your neighborhood and

Thank you. a bad life but it was like there would just be elements of my life that i feel like they wouldn't be able to experience like there was something free about being able to get on your bike and just like cruise through your neighborhood and stay gone until the you know the sun went down and i knew like when we're living up on mahal and i wasn't exactly trusting my six-year-old son to go on a bike and just come back when the sun comes down go down go down moho and at 60 miles an hour.
Unable to stop. Nothing bad ever happened on Mulhoen.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Oh, there's the old Manson house.
Oh, no. But I just wanted them to have a little taste of that.
When we went to shoot Vice Principals there, I was seeing it in real time. They were getting it.
They were having more independence than I had ever had with them here. Like they were able to hang out with friends and it wasn't like we were overseeing it or like coordinating a play date.
It was like just kind of naturally happening. And so I just kind of wanted that.
I thought it was, it'd be cool for them. And, um, yeah.
And so that would kind of motivated us moving there. And then luckily a lot of the guys I work with, they all were kind of at the same point in their lives where they had young kids and were kind of a little like helpless about how to raise kids here that everyone had come from small towns and so it was uh an adjustment and everyone just kind of decided to go down together it was like i think wait so you live in like a community with your friends yeah we all people call that a cult yeah yeah we allow others in you know there is no but as i we moved there with like honestly like jody Hill, David Green, he's got a place there.
Like, uh, yeah, the John Couture, Jeff Bradley, all these other writers from the show.

We all moved there the same summer and, uh, set up shop and yeah, it's been almost eight

years now.

That's amazing.

Yeah.

It's been a lot of fun.

We didn't have to make new friends.

We were able just to keep the ones that we've always known.

You can't, at a certain point, you can't make new friends. It's too much effort.
Which is great for this podcast and its title. Have I really made friends with any of them? No, it's true.
The minute the podcast is over, I tell them, get out of here. Yeah.
I won't see you again. It's all a scam.
You know, I have to ask you about working with John Goodman because he's one of my favorite people. I mean, I'm just thinking of all of the iconic roles he's played.
So much great work with the Coen brothers. And he was the first guest on my late night show.
Oh, wow. September 13th, ran into him recently on an elevator i hadn't seen him in years i was like hello john he's like hello and i said remember you're my first guest and he said yes you uh i believe you know the way he can talk he's very serious he said i uh you um you george went canceled so you i was your second choice and and that was not the case

he was misremembering remembered that but he but the problem is he misremembered it yeah he misremembered it which was no he was our first choice uh and we wanted someone who we knew would be really fun and friendly and go along with all the weird stuff we wanted to do and that we put George Wendt in the audience

to challenge

him to leg wrestling and that

was and go along with all the weird stuff we wanted to do. And that we put George Wendt in the audience to challenge him to leg wrestling.
And that was just to show people how weird our show was going to be. We wanted to do that right off the bat.
So that was always the plan. And now somehow he's got it switched in his mind that, and I remember it, then he got off the elevator and I never got a chance to straighten him out.
That like, no, no, no, you were the first choice. George Wendt was the plant in the audience, but it's lost to time now.
And maybe it's good for him, but I feel like he underestimates how much influence and how great he is. I would be surprised when I would sense that he was nervous or worried that he wasn't doing good.
You're like, are you kidding me? It's like you're're John Goodwin. Blowing everyone here out of the water.
He's incredible. I mean, I've always loved him.
And he was in TV when TV wasn't really that cool. And he's on your TV and then he still can go do the Coen brothers and everything is so funny and he's lasted for so long and he still can make you laugh and can still do stuff that's challenging.
I mean, I never thought in a million years we would get him on this show. It was like completely like a lark.

Also, because he's such a good actor, he, his, he can, I mean, his menace.

Oh yeah.

You know, on the gemstones, his sense of purpose and drive. And he's built this thing.

And you get the sense that he really has.

And then it comes from something real.

Yeah, totally.

You need a real actor to do that.

You do.

And if we wouldn't have had someone like him,

I don't think the show would have worked.

I think you needed that legitimacy.

Even for us, like...

I think I could have done it.

There was thoughts that maybe you could.

Yeah, you could have done it.

No, I... I think George went.
No, no. George went for sure.
No, in all fairness, I think, yeah, you've got a Goodman or a Conan. Often brought up at the same time, yeah.
Often in the same sentence. Coen brothers just don't have my number they don't

know how to get a hold of me yeah that's the problem do you think i'm very hard to get a hold

of yeah real hard i have a flip phone not everyone has the number that's what it is

uh you said that you like these guys these characters they see themselves as something

they are not which is i think also it's part of the same line of what we've been talking about but

Thank you. you said that you like these guys, these characters, they see themselves as something they are not, which is, I think also, it's part of the same line of what we've been talking about, but people who don't see themselves as what they really are, but it's a, but their belief in themselves is genuine.
Their egos are just unchecked. Yeah.
They, I just feel like that, you know, when you want to make the character the part of the joke, that's like the most, don't know that's like the richest ground of just you know the tragedy of like seeing someone telegraphing how they want you to see them and then knowing that they're not that it just always makes me laugh so you're in south carolina now is it weird to come into la and like okay now i'm driving around the 405 freeway and i'm going to do press and things like that you're uh i mean it's, I would, I lived here 20 years, drive everywhere. And then instantly I feel like I'm an old person who's never been around a moving car before.
It's like, there's so many cars. It's everything's so fast.
You do slow down. I mean, everything is so slow there that you, uh, it does.
It kind of, I'm like, wow, it's wild that I was used to this pace. It's nuts.
One of the things I love about Charleston is when you go downtown, they have the old gas lamps. It's like you've gone back in time.
You know, they've done a really good job of preserving. And so I would think it's about as not LA as you can get to me is gas lanterns in the streets.
Do you know what I mean? Burning in the middle of the day, just burning propane. Yeah.
Yeah. Someone over there has a butter churn.

So,

um,

I'm curious,

like when something like gemstones is done,

you've wrapped it and you're going to unveil this new season.

Are you onto the next thing already?

Are you,

you know,

I'm after I leave here,

I go sound mix the very last episode.

So after today I will be officially unemployed.

I'm done.

Uh,

I don't,

I mean,

I have ideas what I want to do,

but I really just kind of want to just chill out for a little bit and catch a breath. I mean, I've been on Gemstones full time now for like seven years.
I mean, it doesn't seem like that because there was COVID and there was a strike, but it's, I'm so monogamous when I get on something like this, I like live and breathe it. I mean, when we're not in between seasons, I'm literally just like reading the Bible, watching sermons, just trying to find material and

find inspiration. And so I think after a while, you kind of do have to just shut it off because

even in my head, if I were to think of ideas now, they all would feel similar to gemstones because

my brain is so trained on finding humor and finding comedy that like fits that mold. So I think in a way you kind of have to just like let it go and kind of stop thinking about it for a while and then kind of.
Okay. So what do you do to relax? What are your fun things? What's your happy place? I need to get hobbies.
I don't have hobbies, unfortunately. I've tried a few different ones in Charleston and none of them have really stuck yet.
What did you try? When I first got there, I was like, maybe I'm going to be somebody who's like into grilling. I'll be into big green eggs and like learning how to like master the big green egg.
And I had that for a while. And then I was like, I'm going to have a heart attack with all these fucking steaks.
No one's eating and like trying to dial the temperature and just right. It's like my wife's like, yeah, big deal.
You kept it at 250 degrees for 12 hours. You've mastered it.
But this pork, it falls right on. My heart feels tight.
My chest. I got a little, you know, I have a dock, and so I got a Boston Whale where everybody in that area is out in the water.
You got a boat, right? Well, I thought I did. And then I realized I'm not a boat person.
I don't like owning it. I would be responsible for everybody's like safety.
I would get out there and I would just have the worst time because I'm just sort of like so worried that I'm going to kill someone. And I was like, this feels like someone else should be driving this thing.
I should be able just to drink and like let the wind blow my hair back. And so, and it's also boats are so much maintenance.
It's like you finish going out and everyone gets to go home and then you got to sit around for like an hour and a half hosing the fucking thing down and flushing the engine out. I'm like, I don't need new chores.
I don't like this. So I let the boat rot for like an hour and a half, like a year and a half at the end of my dock.
I would just look at it and just, it'd make me feel terrible. So I'm like, I have no desire to use that thing I've spent money on.
And I would watch it fill with rainwater and barnacles grow on it. It was just a constant reminder of like, you know, you don't have hobbies.
You don't even like going out on boats. So I sold that and got rid of that.
And yeah, now that's what I'll do. I'll try to find what the next.
I love that you have a camouflage shirt. And anyone who sees this on video, you're wearing a total camouflage hunting shirt.
But I doubt you need it. I doubt that you do anything that requires you to wear a camouflage.
I want to, but yeah, I don't have it in me. Even honestly, even fishing to an extent, like everyone fishes down there.
It's like, all right, I'll get into fishing. We have this koi pond in our front yard.
And there was like, we inherited it when I bought the place, like koi fish there. And then this like fucking heron, this bird started coming every day, would be on our roof, would come down and it would pick up the koi fish.
But the koi fish are too big for it to eat. So they would just drop them on the, on the, leave them on the side of the ground.
I would come home and there would always be dead fish like leading up there. And I, uh, birds just laughing at you.
I started a straight up war with this bird where it was, it was the same one would come every day. And my wife and I had all these tricks.
Like I had like left my son's and began, I like left my son's like remote control car down there. And then every time I'd see it, I would turn the car on to chase it away.
And then that evolved into just like Nerf guns or like that thing would come and I would just like run out there, like lighting it up. And, uh, it knew who I was.
I think you found your hobby. You have a hobby.
Yeah. It's, it's fighting birds, fighting birds without hurting them.
Did you win? Did you get rid of them? Well, you know what was funny? It's like one day I went out there and I lit that bird up. I made full contact with that thing.
It flew over the hedge and I went back in the house like, got him. The bird flew around to the back of the house and started banging on the window and shit all over the back of my deck.
It was like, oh, he knew. He knew.

Of course he knew.

Yeah.

Cut to the bird at a gun store.

Yeah, he's going to even the score.

Yeah, they bring a Nerf gun, you bring a real gun.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

But I think protecting those fish,

there was a few times where I saved a few,

where I got home and the fish was still flopping on the ground

and I saw the scared look in its eye.

I put it back in the water. I was like, I can never fish now.
I've ruined it for myself. I'm determined now to go.
I'm going to go to Charleston, South Carolina and hang out and get the word out that I'm ready to hang with Danny McBride. But then it's just going to be really fun that you don't reach out to me.
And I know that you're just like six miles away. No, I'll reach out to you.
But what would we do? Well, there's a few good bars down the street from my house. We'd probably ride around in golf carts.
Maybe we'd go on a ghost tour. I would love that.
I, you know, the area where I live, people cruise around on golf carts and it's, there's no hotels or anything out there. It gets pretty dark after night.
And like, I love to just like put the kids in the golf cart and i literally just like play the soundtrack to the shining and turn the lights and just cruise around the island it is it is more frightening than what you could imagine yeah so so how are they doing these kids i worry about their therapy uh you said they haven't really grown much and they're terrified all the time i remember when we uh shot land of the lost here in los angeles we were uh that's like one of the only movies i ever worked on that shot on a back lot uh that was what i thought all of hollywood would be would be like you'd be on a on a you know sure the studio and every movie be shooting there. I think we were the only movie that was shooting in town that time on the Universal lot.
And we would have all these late nights and Will Ferrell and Yorma and I would get in golf carts late at night on these night shoots and we would drive through Universal Studios when it was closed down and we would pull up in front of the Psycho and one by one you'd have to go up by yourself and knock on the door. No! And it seems so silly.
It was scary as shit. Oh my god.
That does sound scary. It was.
It was. You would freak yourself out.
There was no way after you knocked that you would not run back to the golf cart where everybody was.

And then quickly make some jokes.

It wasn't that scary.

Don't they have the mom in the window?

Yeah.

Yeah.

They have her like a mannequin.

Yes.

Not real.

Oh.

That might be.

I think it's a working actress.

Okay.

She's just sitting there.

She's there 24-7.

It's so creepy.

Yeah.

She was on like silver spoons

and now that's what she does uh this has been an absolute blast absolute blast you've been on our our how do we get how do we get this man he's never in la just i'm so happy that you were able to get yourself in here and met you in 2006 and right away was an instant fan. Like, and then everything just has, from a distance, I've just watched everything blow up since for you in all the best ways.
And I'm really happy. And Righteous Gemstones is hilarious and great.
And this is the final season? This is the final season. Wrapped it up this season.
Yep. I think it's our best one yet.
I know everyone has to say that to get people to tune in, but I really do think that. Yeah.
Well, I am so happy for you. And I look forward to the day that I intrude on you in South Carolina.
Please come down. I'll give you the real tour.
Seriously, I mean, I'm a huge, I've been to Fort Sumter.

I'm a real nerd. I've toured the, I know a little bit too much about, I've gone to the South and I've told people this.
I took my wife on, when we were newly married, I took her on a drive through Georgia to look at Civil War landmarks and the marriage almost ended there. so so

anyway

thank you so much for being here. Thank you.
Seriously. Thank you.
And get a hobby. I'll try to.
I'm so good at board games. You ever played a board game with me? I haven't, but I feel like you probably get really competitive.
I do, and if I start to lose, I flip the board over. That's why I have an unbroken streak.
I just always win because I just throw the board over, flip it over, and say, get out of my house. Okay, that's mature.
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That's a lot of people. Thanks, Sonia.
Sorry. That was my contribution to this.
Wow. I wasn't sure 5 million people globally was a lot of people until you chimed in.
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That's betterhelp.com slash Conan. A number of episodes ago, we talked about how you lost your beloved and I think long term leather jacket.
What? Weren't you in a long term relationship with this leather jacket? I bought it and I wore it a lot. Aren't you burying the lead, which is she lost her house.
She lost her house and her leather jacket was in the house.

This is the first I've heard of that.

Okay.

Yeah.

You're a real sensitive guy.

My house burned down.

You lost your home in the Altadena fire.

Yes.

And you are still living, you're living with your parents.

Yes.

Okay.

Well, we won't get into that too much.

There's some stress there probably.

It's okay.

It's all good.

I love your mom.

I love your dad. Okay.
But your mom can be a bit much. Oh, wow.
Oh, we're going to clip it and show her. Quoting you.
Yeah, what? I love her. I don't know what your problem is with her.
What did you say? I love her. Okay.
And I was quoting you and you said she, you know. You and your mom clash sometimes.
We do. We clash.
You're too strong personalities because you love each other very much. I adore my mom, but we have a generational divide and a cultural divide.

There you go.

So anyway, house burns down.

Yes.

And among the things you lost was the leather jacket you've been wearing since the day I met you.

Yeah.

You've had that jacket forever. I have.

And sometimes I would kid you about the jacket because you would wear it every day.

You wouldn't mix it up too much. Okay.
I loved that jacket. I'm sorry it went.
And what did I do? What did I do? I forget what I did. Okay, then I guess we have nothing else to talk about.
Okay, so they still make this jacket and I found it and you very generously offered to buy me a new one. So I went with your credit card, which I have, and I bought a new jacket for myself.
I got an alert that they were very suspicious of you using my card. Okay.
But then I realized what I did was I just bought you ammo for me. Yes.
And that's not, I don't know why I did that. That's why he did it in the first place.
I, there was a jacket I made fun of and then it was lost in this tragic fire and I needed the jacket replaced immediately so I could make fun of the jacket. I know.
So I could make fun of the jacket again. That's so ironic because you're sitting here in a leather jacket.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's like sitting with Mad Max and the Red Baron right now. This is amazing.
No, the problem is not that it's a leather jacket. I love leather jackets.
It's just that she only wore one jacket, and I swear to God, you wore it to everything. I did wear it to—it fit me like a glove.
It was like stretched in this. When your kids were christened in that beautiful church, and I was the godfather, and it was a beautiful ceremony.
I'm wearing a suit. Liza's wearing a dress.
People are wearing robes. You're there wearing Dr.
Zayas' jacket from- Okay. Come on.
It's so cool. Don't I look cool in it, though? No one looks cool who says, don't I look cool? Yes, I do, though.
I look so cool in it. It's a great jacket.
And I'm happy. And you know what? I'm happy that you got this back.
Yeah, me too. I am too.
I'm glad that it's reclaimed. A lot of the things that we lost, we've been trying to find versions of it.
Oh, there is one thing in particular. Isn't there that you guys lost a poster? What is it? A cell, an animation cell from King of the Hill.
Oh. That Tack loved.
And so, the first time I've ever really done this, I asked Greg Daniels. My old writing partner and good friend.
And who I've gotten to know really well over the last few years. And not few years, but a very long time I've been working for you.
And I asked him, I said, do you have any or know where I could get one? And he gave Tack the exact one that he lost. And it felt like it was just coming back from the dead.
Greg, you're a mensch. He's a really good guy.
It was really nice. Shout out to Greg Daniels.
Yes. That's so nice.
So slowly you're going to rebuild your life by getting back some of the objects. I lost $100,000.
That's a lie. You're just lying now.
And guess what? It had had real sentimental value it was all special bills I remember that paper bag of $100,000 meant so much to you and I really wish I had it again well I guess there's one thing we can do what are you gonna do get some monopoly boards Get a lot of fake money and put it together. No, but I bet you there are a bunch of things we could go through and get back.
I hope so. I mean, it does feel like you're bringing things back from the dead, which is cool.
This jacket meant a lot. I loved this jacket, and I really thank you for doing it.
Although I do know you're just doing it so you can can keep the riff going. No, that's part of the reason I did it, but there's 10% of it.
90% was keep the riff going so I can continue to bash away at you. And then there's 10%, which is I love you and I want you to be happy.
That's very nice. But 90% total, you know, guns blazing.
I know. Gotta get you.
I know. I know.
Make you feel bad. Sure, I know.
So you had a happy ending. Yes.
And did you, you didn't lose anything in the fire, did you? I'm sorry to say I didn't. It is weird.
There's a survivor's guilt. Of course there is.
Is there really? I'm telling you, there is. There is totally a survivor's guilt in LA right now.
I mean, I've talked about this, but I've been very open about the fact that fire got really close to my house and filled it with smoke. And I'm still not back in it.
We've been out since the fire. So it's been months now since I've lived in my house.
And it all has to get cleaned out and everything. But you can't.
There's nothing. I'm just still I'm grateful.
I'm very grateful that my house still exists. And if I ever catch myself saying to anybody, my sneakers, my Brooke sneakers got a little, they have good art support for when I run in.
Well, they got a little smoky. And so they have to be wiped off because they got smoky.

And then you're probably standing next to somebody who lost their house.

I know, yeah.

So keep my mouth shut.

Well, I mean, you lost your house.

You can't go back to your house.

That's why I feel like I have guilt all around,

survivor's guilt all around.

I feel like I want to sleep in a tent in my front yard.

You should.

No, that's going too far.

You should.

I can't. And you should fill it with smoke.
Well, yeah. Toxic smoke.
Well, I'm glad. I'm glad that you, we got that back and we'll get other things back.
Thank you. You'll see.
Thank you. Peace out.
Tupac. Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.
With Conan O'Brien, Sonam of Sessian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley.
Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Leow. Theme song by The White Stripes.
Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.
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Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnick.
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Well, now I'm an actor and podcast host. From piece of work entertainment and campsite media

in association with Olive Productions

comes Big Time, an Apple original podcast.

Each episode follows the story of one misfit with big dreams

who isn't afraid to bend a few rules

or take a shortcut to get there.

Well, who steals bees?

I was duped.

I shoot you in the leg.

This is Big Time.

Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.