Twelve comedians reflect on OBriens incredibly influential late-night legacy.
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Another remarkable era in late-night television is coming to an end asConan OBrien signs off from his TBS show.
(Spoiler alert: Theres a lot of talk about the greatness ofthe Masturbating Bear.)
Eric Andre
I started watching Conan when I was a teenager in high school.
All of my friends connected to him on a way deeper level than with Leno or Letterman.
That isnt a dig at those guys Conan just lit up our brains.
We thought he was so creative.
Hes likable, and thats the most important thing.
it’s possible for you to tell hes very, very smart, but hes not pretentious.
He knows when a joke tanks.
Hes also very creative and has a distinct, unpredictable comedic point of view.
And hes a bit of an underdog, too.
His comedy really shaped my comedic sensibilities and my worldview.
Me and my friends, we were so invested in it because we felt ownership of it.
His comedy wasnt like anything else.
We felt he was speaking directly to us.
I dont like that.
Who are you to be the one and only judge of comedy, which is completely subjective?
Conan was the antidote of that model, where he felt like your friend.
He wasnt arrogant; he was silly and absurd, a master of non sequiturs.
My first appearance, I was pretty nervous.
Tommy Blacha wrote forConan, wrote forAli G, createdMetalocalypse, thenThe Eric Andre Show.
He was our Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first writers room because we really didnt know what we were doing.
We were really straining, where every segment had to be this brilliant, groundbreaking piece of art.
He stopped this right away and said, Whoa, whoa, whoa.
If you overthink, you overstink.
I told Conan that on his podcast, and hes like, I actually came up with that.
Its If you overthink, you begin to stink.
Theyre operating on many levels, but comedy is primal.
Its only the art professor that says art is intellectual.
Art has to pander to the caveman and cavewoman within us.
Its playing to your heart, not your cerebral cortex.
Its a smart mind that drove you toward a stupid premise.
Hes honestly one of the smartest people in entertainment.
Hes never punching down, never mean-spirited.
And I think hes going to do more of the same, just in a different configuration.
Hell always be himself.
Nicole Byer
I really came to comedy late.
And then I was like,Oooh, hes funny.
The thing that really sets Conan apart from other people is hes weird.
Hes a redheaded, tall, gangly, weird man who doesnt shy away from being weird.
He was so kind to me.
He came to the dressing room and talked to me like I was a normal person.
It instantly made me feel okay.
Hes also really great at give-and-take.
He really elevated me in a way.
Im indebted to him.
Then I said it, and the audience went wild.
Some hosts are very much on autopilot, but hes not; hes super-engaging.
Hes looking at you like,What are you gonna give me next?
Because were playing fucking tennis.
Youre gonna bounce the ball at me, and Im gonna lob it back at you.
Which is always fun, because sometimes you go on shows where youre like,Huh?
I dont think you even like me.
He lets you do anything you fucking want.
Late night is going to be a little more boring without him.
A fun little weirdo is leaving!
I mean it fully, with love, but yeah, hes fucking weird!
I like being weird.
You spoke the same language.
The first few years were magic to me.
I remember feeling,I cannot believe that this is on television.
Its like he wasplayinga late-night host.
He straddled the line between buttoned-up late-night hosts and young punk dum-dums.
He was so goofy and silly and whimsical and absurd.
It was so stupid, truly, that it really felt like he was getting away with something.
Everybody in my room was asleep, and I was quietly watching Conan.
It was the first time I sawIn the Year 2000,and it killed me.
I had to stifle laughter so I wouldnt wake up my aunt.
LaBamba from his band singing in that high-pitched voice was the funniest thing.
It was so stupid.
And I absolutely loved it.
That really hooked me in early.
I remember having the thought,Yeah, Conan does love to destroy a guest.
He loves to destroy the audience.
Its part of the joy.
Its part of his gift as a comedian.
Now, Conan is a great friend.
I dont mean that like, Were so close.
I mean that hes a generous friend.
He will reach out, be the one to extend the hand.
I cant tell you how much that means to me.
Those things dont go away.
Nikki Glaser
I was a little late to Conan, but it must have been 98.
It opened this world up to me that I didnt even know existed.
From there, I got my friends into it, and we became obsessed.
TheWalker, Texas Rangerlever.The string dance.Preparation H Raymond.
My dad bought me theIn the Year 2000bookfor Christmas.
I can see that I was taking a course in joke writing.
I admit I never wanted to go on Conan because it was just too much.
I didnt think that I deserved to be on it.
I met him for the first time after my set he walks over and says, Great job.
He shook my hand, and I kind of held it and said, You dont understand.
The reason I do this is because of you.
I think I blacked out.
Im a lot like Conan in the sense ofIm not good enough to be doing this.
Thats why I relate to him so much.
Conan does not understand how good he is, and sometimes its helpful for me to remember that.
Im not scared to gush about how much I love Conan.
I always feel like, Sorry, youre gonna have to let this in.
Bill Hader
I started watching Conan in 1993, when I was 15 years old.
Conan andThe Simpsonswere really the first thing in comedy that I felt was mine.
It was the first thing that my parents didnt get.
They were really confused by it, so I think thats why its so special to me.
Id go, No, this ismything.
He spoke to that.
You could tell it was him and his writers trying to make themselves laugh.
There was nothing pandering about it.
He set up his guests incredibly well, and people always seemed really loose and funny on his show.
LikeHarrison Ford the first time I saw Harrison Ford be funny was onConan.
I didnt realize he had a sense of humor about himself.
Or whenTom Selleck had to say good-bye to his mustachebecause the mustache was dying.
Its a comedy geek got his own show.
Thats how it felt.
Letterman would say things in a way where he didnt care if the guest hated him.
That was the danger with him.
Whereas Conan could be sarcastic, but he always was trying to help guests out.
You could feel that they responded to that.
Every time you do one of those shows, you think youre gonna bomb.
Theres no ego there.
Theres no, like,Its my show, so Ive got to be the funniest person here.
The thing that Ive learned the most is how hes a very deep guy.
If you listen to his interviews, likehis Stern interview, hes very open.
What he talks about in terms of anxiety and fear of failure, I definitely relate.
How could we not be a little crazy, doing this for a living?
Then I learned from Conan,Oh, thats okay.
A lot of that goes intoBarry.
Theres always something funny about that, because its you.
Its a thing you manage.
People assume,Oh, everythings going great.
And you say, Maybe on the surface, but underneath, theres a lot going on.
As you get older, it gets a little bit more intense.
Thats when I really started watching him every night.
Im sure everybody saysMasturbating Bear, but I do remember Masturbating Bear.
I was right at that age.
I grew up religious.
I wanted to do comedy.
I was deeply ashamed of my sexuality, and sexuality as a whole.
Not just my sexuality I was ashamed ofyoursexuality andeveryonessexuality.
The silliness, it wasnt malicious.
I took that advice to heart, but really I see him taking that advice.
Hes a guy who understands that his job is to not take it too seriously.
His job is to have fun and be silly, and he really excels with that.
I literally remember thinking,I wonder who the guy is.
I didnt thinkthey were talking about me.
I slowly put it together.
He gave me the keys to the playhouse, with no ego.
He never held it over my head.
Hed drop by the writers room and hang out with us.
I genuinely got dunked in the tank of becoming more than just a comedian who was on his show.
Ive always felt like a sort of gangly, pale, smart, funny guy.
He turned all of that into the car that he drove to the moon.
Jimmy Kimmel
I think I started watching him his premiere night.
I was doing morning radio at that time, so I got up at 3 in the morning.
I think thats the best thing that you might do.
I mean that in the best possible way, not as an insult.
He really stayed true to the humor that he appreciated, from the very beginning to the very end.
I think I maybe met him at Martin Shorts house.
Then there are some people that are funny on television and even funnier in real life.
Conan is definitely in that category.
He had me laughing hard for four hours straight.
At a certain point, I wasnt even talking to him; I was just watching him.
He had a few drinks and adopted a German accent, and it was off to the races.
He viciously insults people without any viciousness at all.
You always know hes kidding, but he never stops.
I think part of it is being so big youre looking down on everyone, literally.
Its funny Conan once said to me, You know, Ive not really seen your show.
I try not to watch other shows because I dont want to be influenced by them.
I said, Because I cant until you do!
Andy genuinely is a kindhearted soul and manages to be funny despite that.
Lets just say that that impersonation did not come out of nowhere.
But Conan, theres no rivalry between us.
Sometimes I feel like I was madder for him than he was!
Natalie Palamides
What aspiring comedian wouldnt want to intern for Conan?
It was a dream to intern for a comedy legend.
I love that he goes totally absurd and surreal with a lot of his running gags.
What other late-night host hasa dog puppet insulting people?
It feels like Conan bridged that gap.
He makes his audience feel smart while still getting them to laugh at a bear jerking off.
I remember getting to talk with the writers, like Brian Stack.
If you ever wanted to go get advice, they were always so welcoming.
Hes not wandering around the office, trying to get to know every college intern meandering around the place.
But one day, Conan held the door for me.
And he was like, Sure.
Hey, how ya doing?
and shook my hand.
He was so cool.
Then, at the end of my internship, he had a meeting with me in his office.
I remember the essence and spirit of the meeting.
Do shows and get up as much as it’s possible for you to.
Conan incorporates so many different styles, and he doesnt really worry about what he is.
You dont have to be any certain kind of comedian; you might be somebody who makes people laugh.
Thats what America loves about him: He is unapologetically himself.
Adam Pally
I started watching on day one.
It was exciting, and that first season was so meta.
Which is almost what it feels like when youre with Conan, because hes so fast and funny.
You feel,I just want to get the most out of this.
The funniest things were when he would have new recurring characters.
I loved himdriving the desk.
I loved [Robert] Smigel doing the different politicians, when he wouldmove their lips.
And he used to have Andy Daly on all the time and thenAmy Poehler plays Andys Little Sister.
It was superspecial and important to me.
A lot of my meta stuff comes out of watching Conan.
It got cut most times.
Youd get to sit in holding and watch the show, and that was truly so exciting.
For a 22-year-old me, I was in heaven.
I didnt mind sitting in the hallway for five hours in an American-flag Speedo and getting cut.
I got to see Conan, and Andy said hello to me that was like winning the lotto.
Happy Endings showrunner is a super-talented, amazing, funny man named Jonathan Groff.
I begged Groff to call and get me onConan.
God, talking about it now, it was so presumptuous and borderline maniacal.
But I said, Can you run this by Conan?
And Brian came back so quick, Yes, that obviously he didnt check with anybody.
Butthe bit was actually really funny, and it worked.
I only have this many chances to do comedy.I think Conan, oddly, saw that in me.
I was the third guest again, and I was clearly thirsty for laughs.
I still had green paint on me, and my car was all banged up.
He rolls his window down with his sunglasses on, and he goes, Wanna race?
I was so embarrassed.
Hed be like, Why didnt you say hello?
And Id do this bit where I was like, I dont know.
I didnt want to bother you.
I didnt know if youd recognize me.
We kept that bit going for five years.
When you meet someone like that, youre like,I am connected to this person for life.
Hes exactly what you want your idol to be.
I dont care what he does next Im gonna watch it.
And I hope to take a small part of it and make it about me.
Seth Rogen
I remember watching the show from pretty much when it started.
I was a hugeLettermanfan, so when Conan started, I remember being interested.
It was something my friends and I really bonded over and loved.
We would always do impressions of In the Year 2000 and the Masturbating Bear.
That was something wed quote and talk about endlessly.
He seems like someone who gets this stuff the weird, obscure nerdy stuff that we were into.
It felt much more, I would say, my generation rather than the previous generation.
When I started watching his show, it felt familiar in a way.
But often, that stuff actually strikes a chord with way more people than you would think.
I mean, he wroteThe Simpsonsmonorail episode.
Over the years, doing his show has always been incredibly enjoyable.
Thats something Ill always feel very lucky for.
Every time, it feels special.
When you find out youre a fan of something without knowing who did it, its surreal and thrilling.
I dont know exactly what hell do next.
Whatever makes him happy!
You do you, Conan.
I have no hopes for him beyond his hopes for himself.
He was in the same building, and everyone atSNLknew him.
I didnt, but thats how I first was aware of him.
At first, I was like,This guys weird.
What is this?And little by little, I fell madly in love with the show.
He brought this absurdist comedy that you hadnt seen on a talk show.
Also, you didnt know the guy beforehand.
Usually, its someone you know when they have a show.
But once it caught on, it became a whole new wave of late night.
So many times, writers on a talk show write for the host exclusively.
There were so many characters on the show that were born from the writers and their friends.
He created a world.
Also, I grew up on Conan.
Maybe you grew up watching Conan; I grew uponConan.
I was on it from when I was 22 to now.
Im 50 thats 28 years.
God, I didnt know who I was when I first went on.
But on Conan, it was so experimental.
It felt so safe.
My favorite stuff is the dumbest stuff, and theres an art to it.
You cant be dumb to do it.
He expanded the rules.
In a lot of ways, comedy needs boundaries.
There isnt an elitist feeling in his work.
He knows what it takes to raise other people up and have them shine.
When you look at his trajectory, its amazing and its frustrating.
He did everything right.
He made this totally unique thing that was every night, and he gotThe Tonight Show!
That was the most bizarre, weird injustice: NBC not standing by him.
You cant take Conan and be fear-based, not let there be big swings and failures.
I hope HBO lets him do whatever he wants to do.
We want to see whathewants to do.
Reggie Watts
Conan was just kind of around for me.
I didnt really watch it that much.
I saw it here and there because I didnt really have a TV in the 90s or 2000s.
Hes really fast, very quick-witted, and very self-effacing.
Of course, his Irish Catholicness I grew up Catholic, so I can get where that comes from.
He has a way of being a fake narcissist.
He displays the traits of someone whos narcissistic, but hesplayinga narcissist.
And hes also just kind of an awkward dude, and he recognizes that.
He was goofy and silly and didnt mind being the butt of jokes, which was refreshing.
He cares about people.
When he started having me on the actual television show, they would let me do whatever I wanted.
Id ask for the stuff, and they make it happen.
Its very not complicated.
I was always sure something would work out.
Hes a full-support guy.
Hes very generous, shares the spotlight, doesnt focus on himself.
That energy is how I would do a show, whether itsComedy Bang!
Bang!orThe Late Late Show.
I like it casual.
I always call him a good king.
Hes a really down-to-earth guy, the greatest example.
Thats what I dream of when people get power.
Thats what I want them to be like.
