Jordan Peele

[0] Hi, my name is Jordan Peel.

[1] And I feel honored, absolutely fucking honored about being on Conan O 'Brien's.

[2] Oh, no, sorry, I fucked it up.

[3] It was going so well.

[4] Oh, my God.

[5] You should change it.

[6] Oh, God.

[7] So, hi, my name is Jordan Peel.

[8] And I feel good about being Conan O 'Brien's fine.

[9] Yes.

[10] We had it.

[11] So you guys edit and stuff.

[12] Thought that particularly.

[13] As you would.

[14] Fall is weird.

[15] Hear the yell.

[16] Back to school.

[17] Ring the bell.

[18] Brand new shoes.

[19] Walking loose.

[20] Climb the fence.

[21] Books and pens.

[22] I can tell that we are going to be friends.

[23] I can tell that we are going to be friends.

[24] Hey there.

[25] Welcome to Conan O 'Brien.

[26] He needs a friend.

[27] And I'm starting with an observation here, sitting with my pals.

[28] Sonam of Sessian, Matt Gourley.

[29] And this is a complete happening that we just realized as we all sat down.

[30] I am wearing uncharacteristically a green kind of hoodie, olive green sweatshirt that I never wear.

[31] And I just put it on, waltzed in.

[32] Sona, you are wearing the exact same color in like, what is that, like an overcoat?

[33] It's like a trench coat almost.

[34] And then over here, Gorley just walked off the set of MASH, and he's wearing, I guess, think in the role of Radar O 'Reilly, and you are wearing the exact same green.

[35] Me too.

[36] And then I'm noticing that we're sitting on the exact same green pillows and that the chairs are the exact same color olive drab green.

[37] Yeah.

[38] And it's almost as if, I think, when this airs, it will just be faces floating.

[39] Yeah, zip up your jacket.

[40] We're going to look like three floating heads.

[41] Three floating heads just doing a podcast.

[42] I mean, of course, yes, this is an audio medium, but I know that people look at the clips.

[43] So if you want to check out the clip of, now, what could we do?

[44] Don't we have to?

[45] Is anyone actually going to key us out or?

[46] We don't need to.

[47] We don't need to.

[48] We look stupid.

[49] We're just swaying back and forth.

[50] No, we look smart.

[51] No, I don't.

[52] I worry, hold on.

[53] I worry with that there's probably more technology needed here.

[54] That the background also has to be all green and then some kind of, Does anyone here understand the technology?

[55] Eduardo, do you understand it or does Blay understand it?

[56] What would we need to do to make our head just float?

[57] I understand it.

[58] I mean, basically it would be because there's a black background, we would key out the green.

[59] So it would just be your heads on a see -through box.

[60] So we could make, we could key out the green.

[61] Is this going to cost us like thousands of dollars?

[62] No, not at all.

[63] I could probably do it on my phone.

[64] Yeah, I'm going to cover up.

[65] Yeah, if you cover up your arm.

[66] I can't do it.

[67] I can't do this jacket is very small on me so it's already up half my arm That jacket doesn't fit you Did you steal that?

[68] Did you steal that jacket on a corpse?

[69] Did you steal that jacket off a corpse?

[70] No, I didn't steal things from corpses I think I bought this a lot I love getting I love getting people I don't steal things from corpses You know what I love about Sona She has standards She has standards That's the only time she could say I didn't steal If they're breathing then I'm leaving.

[71] Yeah, keep doing whatever that is.

[72] Well, listen, I'm just saying we're trying to create, we don't have a big budget here, but we're creating a cool, spooky optical image of our heads.

[73] Yeah, three days after Halloween.

[74] This is great.

[75] And it'll probably air long after that.

[76] Grim grinning ghosts come out to social lives.

[77] You know, I don't know.

[78] The three heads in the haunted mansion.

[79] Yeah, not all of us did time professionally.

[80] in an amusement park.

[81] You act like, come on, guys, you with me?

[82] Come on, guys.

[83] The song you hear 75 ,000 times a day when you work at an amusement park.

[84] You gave it you're all too in that performance.

[85] You know what?

[86] I bear my soul for you two assholes.

[87] And this is what I get.

[88] Well, anyway, we should probably quit doing this.

[89] It seems dumb.

[90] What do you think?

[91] We should move on with the show.

[92] We should, but you know what?

[93] Everybody should head over to YouTube.

[94] Oh, for a visual treat.

[95] Do you mean head as in pun, head over to YouTube?

[96] Because we're floating heads.

[97] Grim, grin, and ghosts, come out to social life.

[98] Oh, I'm angry.

[99] Yeah, you're right now.

[100] I hate you so much.

[101] You are the worst.

[102] I usually love you, but I hate you so much.

[103] Oh, no, you guys haven't heard?

[104] I'm a little great guy.

[105] All right, well, anyway.

[106] I'm saying, just go to YouTube.

[107] I'm not saying to watch this.

[108] I'm just saying, go to YouTube.

[109] Yeah, go to YouTube.

[110] Go on YouTube right now.

[111] Certainly there's something you would want to watch there.

[112] Look up a great Olympic skiing fail.

[113] Do not look at any of this shit of our floating ads.

[114] All right, let's do it.

[115] Okay.

[116] Yeah, one more transition because we were all laughing.

[117] Okay, my next guest.

[118] All right, everybody.

[119] Okay, enough of your giggling.

[120] Let's get to it.

[121] No screwing around today.

[122] My guest is an Academy Award -winning writer and director behind such films as Get Out, Us, and Nope.

[123] He also starred in the Hit Comedy Central Sketch Series, Key and Peel, to say I'm excited is just not adequate.

[124] I'm thrilled.

[125] I'm overjoyed.

[126] I admire this gentleman so much.

[127] I'm so glad he's here today.

[128] Jordan Peel, welcome.

[129] Can I say something to you?

[130] I have been dying to have you on the podcast, and this is a huge delight for all of us.

[131] But I didn't, I didn't know.

[132] Sometimes offers come in and they just don't.

[133] sort of penetrate the wall of, you know, of advisors.

[134] No, I went to your house and I rang the bell.

[135] Yeah.

[136] And you answered.

[137] And I said, hey, Jordan, would you want to do the podcast someday?

[138] And you said, and it wasn't convincing.

[139] You said, I just had drops for glaucoma surgery.

[140] And I can't see who I'm talking to.

[141] And then you did that bit every time I came by.

[142] And the truth of the matter was, and I want to say this on the record, this is such, it is such an honor.

[143] It's always an honor.

[144] because from us comedy people, you are the goat.

[145] Oh.

[146] You know what that means?

[147] I can get up hard, rocky mountains easily.

[148] I can digest in cans.

[149] This one's like within the last 20 years.

[150] That is so nice of you to say.

[151] Okay, I'm going to say when I first discovered you as a lot of people did watching Key and Peele sketches.

[152] And I would watch these sketches and I would say, okay, these are so well.

[153] written.

[154] These are such great ideas.

[155] These are such perfect sketches.

[156] I mean, some of the sketches I've spent years relating them to people.

[157] Like, you know that one?

[158] You know that one?

[159] There's the burn victim and the insult comic.

[160] That one, a lot of comedians really connect with this one.

[161] Yes.

[162] Yes.

[163] And I mean, that one, I mean, there's so many great sketches, but that one, comedian, insult, comedian going around the audience and then respectfully passes over someone who clearly has been in a horrible situation.

[164] Burns all over them and is just but passes over tries to start heckling and doing crowd work with the next guy and the guy goes, do me do me. And he says, no, no, no, sir, I went to you and he says, I can take it.

[165] And you make him do it and then he does it and you're like, too far I thought I could take it but I can't I was crying when I first saw that I've watched it multiple times and you guys have many sketches like that but I was like okay that's up there with you know take your favorite CCTV pieces take your favorite you know your favorite sketch from SNL ever take your favorite Monty Python just the whole Pantheon you guys have a bunch of sketches that slide in there.

[166] Thank you.

[167] God damn it.

[168] They're amazing.

[169] I believe Alex Rubens was the writer on that sketch as well.

[170] And we had an amazing team of writers.

[171] So if I'm wrong about that, I'm desperately mortified.

[172] But also the commitment, it's the ideas.

[173] And then the performances, I was raised on Warner Brothers cartoons.

[174] And my sense of humor has always been very cartoonish.

[175] And when you guys would go into that cartoon world where reality bends in this beautiful way to frustrate the expectation, I was just over the moon.

[176] Thank you.

[177] Look, I have to, and I have to bounce that right back at you.

[178] So much of this, I mean, so much of this is born from your work and you're heightening, your sort of textbook, The Simpsons, this, you know, and it was a type of sketch comedy that you see in the best sketches where it's just kind of an aggressive and ridiculous tightening.

[179] And Mr. Show did it.

[180] You know, and so we were just like, okay, we have this opportunity to do this thing.

[181] Yeah, and then I'm, you know, one of the reasons I've always, you know, I've, I've chatted with you, we've talked, but I've always thought, okay, if I get you in this format because I've spoken to Kegan and I'm, it's like, you're here and I'm on as I know, like, I always want to find out, what is, what do these minds come from?

[182] At what point do you realize, I think of very strange things?

[183] and I really like comedy or was your first true love film or was it comedy or both or horror?

[184] Where does it all start?

[185] I probably fell in love with comedy at the same time I was getting really scared by shit.

[186] And I mean scared like as a kid, like, you know, a kid growing up in New York.

[187] I grew up next to a building called the Stratford Arms that was a hotel for transients is what it said on the side.

[188] It was basically, it was, you know, very interesting characters.

[189] Let's just put it that way.

[190] And so I had a very blessed Upper West Side, you know, upbringing.

[191] And I was, you know, it was cultured and that whole privilege.

[192] But it was also, it's just like there's a creepiness to it as well.

[193] So those two things, I think, developed side by side, but at some point they collided for me. Yeah.

[194] And they did in film.

[195] So you start, what are the movies that you're watching that's terrify you when you're a kid?

[196] Well, so, you know, if I'm, first thing out of my gate, this is a lot of people would say, but nightmare on Elm Street was that, that imagery for my specific generation, that was like too young when that came out or too young.

[197] It was like, it was more seeing the posters and the thing that it just evoked such terror.

[198] And so that was formed, that's a formative boogeyman.

[199] But then falling in love with cinema and stuff, it's like stuff like the shining.

[200] I know you've referenced Rosemary's Baby.

[201] What I see in that film that I think the best directors, you know, try to harness or a similar feel is slowly turning the dial.

[202] You know, because I always loved about Rosemary's Baby.

[203] And you can relate to this because it's filmed, you know, takes place in the Dakota, Upper West Side blocks from where you grew up.

[204] It starts out and everything's fine.

[205] And it's the slowly turning of the knob where things are less and less fine.

[206] But it's hard to identify the exact moment when things.

[207] Is that, does that ring true for you?

[208] I love that style.

[209] And I love that location.

[210] I do have this real nostalgia and connection with that.

[211] Of course, that's where John Lennon was shot.

[212] Yeah.

[213] And so there's, there's all sorts of connotations, right, with that area that are so, dark, but I also think that's such a big part of the horror, kind of with comedy, is the grounding character.

[214] You know, the person that ropes us in and reacts.

[215] You know, with horror, it's the toad in the pot theory, right?

[216] If you throw a toad into a boiling pot, then that person's going to leave the scene.

[217] That character needs to get out of there.

[218] Right.

[219] And that's a, you don't want that as a horror film.

[220] You've got to keep them in this isolated spot.

[221] So you slowly turn up the heat on the character.

[222] Yeah, the idea being the toad gets in, it's like lukewarm, kind of feels okay, and the temperature's slowly rising, things are getting more and more uncomfortable.

[223] And you can kind of believe why the character would convince themselves, oh, well, maybe it's just me, you know?

[224] It's so interesting because there's like a, I haven't thought about this at all, but there are their close brothers, or they're related comedy and horror.

[225] There's a similar thing going on.

[226] It's just because you need to acclimate somebody to something that's very normal.

[227] My favorite comedies are, let's acclimate to something very normal.

[228] And then you slowly start to bend things and twist things.

[229] Of course, you get to this insane place, but a lot of comedies that are most effective work that way.

[230] They get you to buy into a reality.

[231] And then you have to start accepting a few premises here and there along the way, but you get sort of spoon -fed them.

[232] And I think it's the same thing with probably really good horror or the kind of horror I respond to.

[233] Yeah.

[234] And just like the comedy, it's like the heightening, the tightening, the fantastical and the imagination, that becomes a certain type of project and exercise.

[235] But the exercise of grounding it is always what makes it work.

[236] To me, in horror, especially is the hardest part because, you know, You know, how do you ground this idea that your protagonist would stay in this situation very long?

[237] It kind of always comes up.

[238] How can they not solve this?

[239] And you're putting the audience in this angst of wanting your character to solve it, but you're not giving that to them.

[240] And so the only way to make that in any way satisfying is to kind of like honor the grounded experience as much as possible.

[241] When you did get out, it's very important.

[242] As you said, if someone shows up, goes away for a weekend with his girlfriend and goes to a house, meet the family, if things are fucked up right away, they're out the door.

[243] So you have all these reasons which I can relate to, which is, no, no, this is okay.

[244] This is all right.

[245] I'm going to stay here.

[246] I'm going to stay in this.

[247] Okay, I can handle this.

[248] And then things, you can, like you say, turn up the heat on the pot.

[249] But how you do it and how gradually you do it is really important.

[250] And that's the, the guest who's coming to dinner set up is one that everyone kind of like connects to, which is like, that anxiety of meeting your in -laws for the first time, your potential in -laws, and you want to crawl out your skin and leave, but you can't.

[251] You're there for reason.

[252] So we all, I just left, too.

[253] There's like, is it Bradley Whiffrey?

[254] He says, oh, man, Obama, great, greatest president, right?

[255] And you just think, okay, this is.

[256] I would have voted for him a third time.

[257] But I was just thinking, like, to me, that's also a funny comedy situation, too, which is this white person is way over, is, is pushing it.

[258] Do you know what I mean?

[259] Well, yeah, that, that, that was the, that was the element of it.

[260] And I'm sorry I said that to you when you came in today.

[261] Well, yeah, well, that you should.

[262] Obama, man, right?

[263] A little tone deaf.

[264] It was a little tone deaf.

[265] There's just such a thing as being too colorblind.

[266] You don't.

[267] I'm sorry I was trying to get in good with you right away and it was weird You're good You know You know each other Yeah but then I was saying He should be a Supreme Court justice And you said let's let it go I like you too I don't need to be cast as your judge I don't need to be I don't need to be president of United States No but look I mean we're obviously we're junk But it's it's This This, you know, it is.

[268] In its essence, it's kind of a key and peel sketch.

[269] It's an observation of being black in white spaces.

[270] And in that time, I don't remember it having sort of been said like that.

[271] And so I remember just writing that and feeling like it was the moment I realized I had to direct the film that I was writing.

[272] Because I was like, I don't know anybody who can do that, who can direct that.

[273] So that's a big, that's a big leap.

[274] Yes, okay, you write this screenplay, obviously terrific screenplay, and you're a known quantity, writer, performer, and then you say, I'd like to direct this.

[275] How was, what was the reaction?

[276] You know, it was surprisingly okay.

[277] Yeah.

[278] This was Sean McKittrick, this guy at QC Entertainment, who I was pitching to.

[279] By the way, I pitched it like, no one's ever going to do this movie, but here's the pitch, and pitched, you know, this crazy, plot and um started writing it about a couple uh a couple months into writing it and again i knew the whole thing but a couple months in the writing and i realized made this call and he said go go for it and it's just like a five million dollar movie so it wasn't like you know it was like kind of the perfect type of risk it was a part of it was we can't afford anyone else you know what i mean this is like micro budget i'll direct it and i'll be you can pay me six dollars I thought it would be more controversial, but he said, yes, way too quick.

[280] And he's like, whoa, let's negotiate.

[281] I tried to back check.

[282] Too late.

[283] Wait a minute, $5 million?

[284] Yeah.

[285] That was the budget.

[286] Now, now, supposedly it got done for 4 .5, but who knows?

[287] Way Blumhouse cooks the books.

[288] No one knows.

[289] Weirdly, I got a check for $500 ,000.

[290] And I don't even think it was supposed to go to me No, I'm not affiliated in any way, but I'd cashed it You did nothing Oh, you cashed it Yeah, I bought a lot of cars and coats I signed something when I did promotion on your show You did remember when you did promotion on the show And you thought it was just a standard I agree to be on this show Yes You were the inspiration for Bradley Whitford's time Yeah, well that's the other thing, right, yeah It's an obvious His name in the movie is Cronin -O -Ryan I just don't hear it that often.

[291] It's really weird.

[292] I feel like I've produced a film with you.

[293] Let's talk about that.

[294] Do you feel that way?

[295] Well, you and I had an interesting, and I don't know where this is going or what you're doing with this project.

[296] Yeah, I don't know.

[297] But I'm just going to say that I got this invitation to go to your office, and I didn't know anything about what was going to happen.

[298] And then you had this.

[299] This, it was absolutely fascinating.

[300] I think it was over two hours, you and I, and I think you've done this with a bunch of other people, but you just presented me with a bunch of decks of cards, and I would select different cards that would lead us towards the making of a movie.

[301] Yeah.

[302] And so, okay, and I would, so I'd pick a, you know, you'd start out with genres, and I would just pick three genres, and you and I would talk about them.

[303] We produced it together.

[304] And this is your life.

[305] your life is making films that is your life now and you're making these films and you think about it and you're clearly extremely gifted at it and this is what you've been put here to do and then there's me and i'm just firing all these ideas at you about how we could make this movie it was so fun um so let me i'll give you a little do you think we ever do you think we ever got close to making a movie together that could be made yes yes our premise was was solid okay okay and you were a big part of that now wait can i backtrack for sure just a second and and because this is something that these are there are a bunch of sessions i've been doing with people who i whom i admire uh the the the ryan couglers the paul thomas anderson's of the world i don't know what what's going to happen of these but they really are amazing at sort of like learning about how other creative people think about the filmmaking process right The Daniels, some just incredible filmmakers.

[306] And then Conan.

[307] Well done.

[308] You got to break it up every now and then.

[309] You know, every now that's like, this is amazing French meal, Visi Suarez, and, you know, just perfectly baked, you know, steaks and everything.

[310] And then every now and then you've got to just have...

[311] New perspective.

[312] Fruit loops.

[313] Some fruit loops.

[314] With a big...

[315] With a lot of almond milk.

[316] And so the whole thing was we did a, we ended up, it's kind of like D &D, but making a movie.

[317] Yeah.

[318] And it's a fake movie.

[319] And we ended up making a Christmas movie, a Christmas movie.

[320] Yeah, we ended up making a Christmas movie that I remember thinking at the time, I absolutely think this could be a Christmas movie.

[321] Yeah, that's the fun of it.

[322] I think this could be a Christmas movie.

[323] And we're not, you know, I don't want to get too much into it because we did record it.

[324] So you never know.

[325] This could be something.

[326] I don't know what you're doing with all this.

[327] It could be a movie.

[328] But spoil away.

[329] I don't care.

[330] Okay, well, we had, it was really fun.

[331] It was a lot of fun, and it was really fascinating because my thing is to just pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch, pitch.

[332] And I threw so many bad ideas at you.

[333] And my favorite part was watching the light go out of your eyes.

[334] Yeah, yeah.

[335] When I'd be going down a really bad road and I'd see you go, okay.

[336] Uh -huh.

[337] yeah uh Conan uh maybe and we were really had to act like we're going to pitch this in a meeting with executives so sometimes you'd say just don't do that whole run in the meeting with the executives that was really fun well yeah and you had to you had to you had to talk some actors off of some ledges and stuff like that's part of part of the game is every now and you'd say okay now it's time to pick a disaster like there's a there's a there's a there's a a kerfuffle there's a problem so you'd splay out other cards because there are all these different decks of cards and I'd pick one out and it would say you know your actor has lost his mind and runoff set was the bad egg but Woody Woody Harrelson was causing us some problems yeah yeah anyway it's um which just you know the minute you draw the Woody Harrelson card you know he's going to be causing problems trouble I'm we're shooting on location and um but I you sent me in to deal with Woody a bunch of times um yeah it's a deal with Woody and then and then uh also Jen Ann Ann Justin was part of our, because that was one of the cards we drew.

[338] Right.

[339] And I was not allowed to speak to her.

[340] Well, as a, as a producer, we made some early decisions.

[341] That was really funny.

[342] I remember it.

[343] I was just not allowed to just.

[344] It's very real.

[345] You were so good.

[346] I could see why you're very good at what you did because you were very gentle with me, but you were like, Jordan, Jordan.

[347] I was, I was legitimately honored.

[348] I just knew if I could mine, you know, that goal.

[349] Yeah, yeah.

[350] You know, in this way, we go.

[351] Yeah, it's like, okay.

[352] And we had, I think also Charlize Theron is in there.

[353] And you were saying like, yeah, Lala, I'll talk to them.

[354] I'll talk to them.

[355] Now, why don't you go talk to Woody?

[356] Woody's in the trailer.

[357] Go hang out with Woody and I'll deal with the ladies.

[358] And I'm like, all right, okay.

[359] Yeah.

[360] I still don't understand why I can't have dinner with them.

[361] But, I mean, all, you know, just out from the, in the context, of all of these sessions I've done it's just I mean that one is just going to live forever for me it's like holy shit I just got to like movie improv with Conan basically it was fun it was really fun we had a very good time um you know I started to kill momentum with another compliment that's okay we we play those he always fast forwards them or takes them out I take them right now um it's funny because I think uh you asked me about the movie Halloween while we were there and I know that this is one of your all -time favorites is the movie, is the movie Halloween.

[362] And I remember you asked me a question about it.

[363] I'm trying to think it was about, was it about Mike Myers on Star Not Live?

[364] Mike Myers and Michael Myers and the connection between the two.

[365] Yeah.

[366] That probably doesn't exist, but I...

[367] I just asked you about the rumor about him having a Halloween poster up in his office.

[368] Oh, okay.

[369] I remember, I remembered what we were, I remember, we mentioned Halloween at one point, so I don't remember, but...

[370] I do love Halloween.

[371] We can clean that up.

[372] You love the movie Halloween.

[373] That is one of your favorites.

[374] And what I love is it's so specific.

[375] What I've heard you talk about, there's a way that Mike Myers, there's something about his physicality and the way he kills that you find really fascinating.

[376] Well, I mean, you know, the thing about Michael Myers is, I think of him as a truly minimalist villain, which I just love that.

[377] You know, I think that's always the scariest.

[378] I mean, the master class with him, you know the story about the mask, that it was a William Shatner mask.

[379] I've heard that.

[380] That was painted, the pop guy just went to the store, was like, fuck, we got a, it could be, you know, it could be this, whatever, this clown mask, or check this out, and it all clicked, and Carpenter's a genius.

[381] So, you know, what I love about that film is how Carpenter tailored this monster in all the choices, the mask, the way he moves.

[382] The stillness shot from across the street and you can kind of the Where's Waldo aspect, it's just all very elegant for what's ultimately, you know, meant to be a brutal kind of killing tale.

[383] And that's kind of like, that's why I think horror is, you know, such elevated cinema when done right.

[384] I've noticed something that I was watching the movie that came out a number of years ago.

[385] the witch and it's uh is it eggers who made that film and i noticed that there was one thing that to me i love a movie that creates such an eerie environment things that aren't otherwise scary are frightening to me so there's one shot early in the witch which just shows a bunch of it's a tree line it's just a tree line and the winds moving through it it's a new england tree line and the winds moving through it and the leaves are rustling and it stays on that shot and there's the music and i remembered feeling like the the hair on the back of my neck standing up and i thought that's to me i like films i don't necessarily need blood flying everywhere constantly i love this idea of something's amiss and otherwise normal sort of harmless -looking objects or environments suddenly scare the shit out of me and I can't tell you why.

[386] I mean, so much is the music, right?

[387] I mean, like, the same moment can go so many different ways.

[388] And if the music is scary, then it'll be scary.

[389] If the music is too happy, it's even scarier.

[390] You know, it's, it, um, yeah, I'm all, I'm all about tone as well.

[391] So what's, what is your all -time favorite if you had to do?

[392] wow horror horror god i i it's it's so hard because i don't know i don't think i'm qualified to say because i don't know the genre as well sure you do come but i i mean uh i i see three men and as a baby as a horror oh no it has that ghost in the window that famous no uh i've always no a comedy that hits me the wrong way is to me the ultimate horror film you know if there's a comedy and I think I feel like no I didn't like that that's more horrifying to me than anything it's like really you guys were going for comedy that's horrible well you know that that that you know that ghost in the behind the curtains in that one scene of three men and the baby you know about that no I know I mean I know of it but I don't know well so it's you know it turns out you know the whole urban legend was that there's a moment where you can see a ghost behind the curtain and this loft downtown three men and baby and the reveal was that or revealed that the truth supposedly is that it was you know ted dancing's character was an actor and then it was a cardboard cut out of ted dancing that if you look and look up you to it it's it looks like a child's ghost behind a thing but i've always wanted to make a horror film where someone's being hunted by a cardboard cut out of ted dancing he's not in it it's uh do i need his i probably need his permission you probably need the permission but you know we can get a photograph of him but uh oh there's another movie i really liked it follows yeah uh which i thought was so terrific and it's just this concept of someone slowly walking towards you from like 800 yards away yeah and i watched that and i thought i i think uh walking a zombie walking is scarier than a zombie running.

[393] Yes.

[394] I mean, I obviously, I, I had a seen in my film where there's a guy running towards you.

[395] So I have a little bit of...

[396] Which is also very scary.

[397] I'm just saying, I'm, and I'm not, I'm, it depends on the situation.

[398] Yeah.

[399] But zombie running to me is less frightening than zombie walking.

[400] What do you say?

[401] I mean, do you, what?

[402] Are you talking about something that can, that gets to you later?

[403] It gets to me later.

[404] You're talking about something that gets to you later is scarier than something that gets to you sooner.

[405] Yes, I like my zombies that call the day before.

[406] And they say, it's for good.

[407] And by the way, I hope you have a ramp because I can't use stairs.

[408] Well, to be fair, to be fair, it follows was, it was, I had seen it follows, I think, by the time I had shot Get Out, and part of that scene where Walter is running straight out.

[409] I believe, if I'm not mistaken, I was thinking, well, you know, what I love about the energy of it follows is, is anything in any movie that comes from the back of the house towards you is doing the ultimate in film illusion.

[410] Yeah.

[411] It's the, it's the train robbery, right?

[412] A train coming through, people will dodge out of the way.

[413] Exactly.

[414] And so, anyway, so I took what a little bit of what it follows had done.

[415] North by Northwest before it.

[416] And sped Walter at it.

[417] So kudos to that film.

[418] Well, it's terrifying when he's running right at, when Walter's running right at the lens, it's absolutely terrifying.

[419] I also find it scary when they're all sitting around in It Follows.

[420] And a character from way far away is just slowly walking.

[421] Now, yes, I like the idea that I have time to call an Uber.

[422] Yeah.

[423] There is.

[424] And then debate.

[425] which one is closest and wait nine minutes and you're and all that time you're just you're watching and experience more and more fear as it gets closer yes and also fear about should I have gone I don't know if I picked the right ride you know maybe I shouldn't have gone maybe I just should have gone comfort do you know what I mean um done an Uber pool would have come faster but oh no I had to have comfort this is not what most horror protagonists have on their minds well Well, again, agree to disagree.

[426] You, I'm opening you to a new kind of horror, and I want you to, you're free to use this in any of your films where something terrifying is happening, but then the character's worried about what this is going to cost them financially.

[427] And it just feels like the horrors in your life, you know, when I put something into my movie, I'm putting real horror, something I'm really afraid of.

[428] If I saw like a doppelganger or racism.

[429] Yeah.

[430] But you're talking about things like...

[431] What's the right ride -sharing app?

[432] Is this Amazon Prime?

[433] Is it the free delivery?

[434] Do I really need this in a day?

[435] Am I willing to pay more for it?

[436] So the guy in Get Out really was based on you.

[437] And by the way, I'd have voted for Obama again.

[438] I'm just, I'm sorry.

[439] I mean, really.

[440] Yeah.

[441] We'll work on a horror premise.

[442] This is why I don't get invited to any of these cool horror discussions.

[443] All right.

[444] You know what I found?

[445] I found there was a movie, I think it was The Vanishing.

[446] Oh, the original?

[447] The original vanishing.

[448] The Dutch.

[449] I loved that movie.

[450] It's harrowing.

[451] I love moments of let the right one in.

[452] The original again, they've always keep remaking these movies, but I like the originals.

[453] Um, and I do love, uh, I mean, things like, uh, movies like midsummer freaked me out.

[454] Okay.

[455] So this, this tells me you are, in fact, a horror fan and you have very good taste.

[456] These are good movies.

[457] And you, and the vanishing is fucked up.

[458] Yeah.

[459] Yeah.

[460] That's dark stuff.

[461] It's really dark stuff.

[462] A dark movie in all daylight.

[463] That's the crazy thing.

[464] It's so well lit.

[465] I honestly, I didn't see that as being your cup of tea.

[466] Oh, you know, it's funny too.

[467] I love, those movies.

[468] And I was talking about this with my wife the other day.

[469] I said, you never watch these movies with me. And she said, because I don't like that stuff.

[470] And she said, when we got married, I had no idea that this is.

[471] And it's something that's been growing.

[472] But I really do love these films.

[473] But no one in my house, my kids don't like horror as a genre.

[474] And so I have to go and watch these things alone.

[475] And then that feels creepy.

[476] But so maybe I'll get you to come over.

[477] Hey, I'd like that.

[478] I'll bring the cards.

[479] We'll bring the cards.

[480] Bring your cardboard, Ted Danson.

[481] And then, but you know, I love, love that sense of eerieness.

[482] Hereditary goes so crazily off the rails.

[483] It's insane.

[484] Just an iconic film.

[485] I love this movie.

[486] And so scary, too.

[487] Ari's, and I don't know if you've made.

[488] met Ari, he did this same, I played the same game with him.

[489] And he's very, you know, he's very nice, very funny, very, you know, warm dude.

[490] And as you would imagine, these, the, the, the, the, our film just creeped into this like, eerie, dark place that I just, you know, I, I, I, I couldn't even wrangle it back.

[491] Um, and so again, it's like it, it, um, he, he's, uh, from a horror perspective, you know, in, in many ways, he's the, he's the champ.

[492] Well, you know, you know, I, you know, I was going to say, and I thought, because this is something, I mean, it's sort of what we're talking about, but just as in The Witch, I was just looking at all these trees undulating.

[493] Yeah.

[494] But in Nope, taking, when you're taking what is a very friendly looking sky, it's a friendly sky, and it's not even a menacing cloud, but it becomes menacing.

[495] It's for me, it's all about difficulty of the dive, which is how can you take something?

[496] something that really is wouldn't frighten you in any other situation.

[497] You know, you don't have this dark thundercloud or whatever.

[498] It's just very calm, beautiful sky.

[499] And then you learn that if you stare at it in the distance, you can identify that it's different from the other, but it takes a while.

[500] And I loved all that.

[501] I love the way you just kept really slowly, but just the notching it up and notching it up.

[502] I love that.

[503] Thank you.

[504] I mean, my sort of philosophy of the genre is, you know, I'm confrontational with my audience, but I also want to, you know, I'm based on a comedic sensibility.

[505] So I want to get the entire audience on board.

[506] And so one of the challenges with the genre of horror and nightmare's shit is that you're asking people to come take time out of their lives and come to a worse world and a scarier world for a while.

[507] And so some people are just, hey, I'm in, let's go.

[508] But for most people, you kind of need a sort of special set of circumstances.

[509] And so what I found and what I love in horror movies is when the aesthetic and the vibe and I love daytime horror where everything about the viewing experience is soothing and warm to the audience.

[510] Yeah, yeah.

[511] You know, what you're sort of noticing, of course, is in so many of the best movies, that that berths the creepiest sensibility because, you know, anything that's sort of trying to be scary through trying to be scary kind of ends up in, you know, on a Halloween store.

[512] Yeah, it's, it's, I mean, again, we're jumping back the similarity to comedy, but my favorite comedy is there is absolutely nothing funny going on here.

[513] Nothing funny is going on here.

[514] Like, nothing funny happening here.

[515] And that was, you know, something that the Zucker brothers stumbled on, which is, no, let's just get these great straight men actors to be an airplane.

[516] And let's have them, do you know what I mean?

[517] Surely you don't think I do.

[518] And don't call me Shirley.

[519] But they say it like, I'm sorry, but your son is dead.

[520] And it's just horrifying, but they're saying this absolutely hilarious stuff, but in the same way that they did on 1970s detective shows.

[521] So when you're nothing funny happening here is my favorite kind of comedy and nothing scary is happening here might be my favorite kind of horror, which is not the castle and nighttime and, you know, and shrieking and howling in the night.

[522] It is something you can make, you know, ranch country that otherwise is quite beautiful or you can take a beautiful weekend home.

[523] and someone's visiting his girlfriend and make it absolutely terrifying.

[524] And to me, that's, that's scarier.

[525] And it is so much as the music.

[526] It's like if there was a, if for our interview here, for our discussion, there was a camera slowly moving around.

[527] And as you were talking, it was just more of a, um, bum, bum, dum, do, d -d -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -l -dun, you know, you would be like, what the fuck is coming about to do to Jordan?

[528] You know, otherwise what's about to happen.

[529] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[530] And there is so...

[531] And lots of you talking and just, and me just staring at you.

[532] Yeah.

[533] Yeah, exactly, yeah.

[534] That's it, right.

[535] But to your point, you being friendly and nice, the nicer you are with that music, the scarier the scene even becomes and the more sort of joyous.

[536] So this is the reason, like, you know, smiles are big in horror.

[537] It's that instant visual, visceral, primal contradiction of of your terror you know is um and this is part part of why i find if i can unlock the right horror engine and world i can get more glee out of trying to tell that story than you know even doing sketch or any any other thing but it's not like i can just go okay i'm to make a movie about, I'm just going to make my Michael Myers movie where I make a movie about some, you know, a killer with a knife and necessarily have that be fun for me. Yeah.

[538] That's not going to be my, my thing.

[539] So I'm, uh, respect, you know, that's why Carpenter's the goat.

[540] Yeah.

[541] In, in horror.

[542] Yeah.

[543] But, um, you know, yeah, my, my, my, I'm going to be the, uh, looking for some way to subvert it in my own way.

[544] Yeah.

[545] Do you miss performing?

[546] do you miss it at all or is it like nope that was that was fun done with that yeah i mean i think it's it it does feel like it's it's it's hard to it's hard to say i guess i guess maybe a little bit but it's just kind of starting i mean i did that run with key and peel really was getting to do everything um and that came at the end of like you you've been out there for a while You've been doing improv, on Mad TV.

[547] So you had been working it for a while before people really got to know you in Key and Beale.

[548] Yeah, I was slinging rock in a sketch comedy form.

[549] It's on Mad TV, you know.

[550] And then, of course, my entire sort of what was meant to be a collegiate career was dedicated to improv and sketch in Chicago.

[551] and Amsterdam.

[552] So I feel like I, no. You scratch that itch.

[553] What I get to do now is just more fun.

[554] Yeah, it's just more fun.

[555] But also, I mean, you're creating worlds, which is just, I mean, what could be greater than that.

[556] I mean, I'm, you know, and to be fair and clear, it's like there's something that's possible when you have this, as you know, this privilege of working with this enormous team of people who are like, okay, I'm on board with your vision, let's go.

[557] And there's something that is just, that's just, you feel like, okay, it's not about me anymore.

[558] It's about this thing we've built and we're building and these things that we're going to build.

[559] It's hard to look back at all that time, especially because like 300 short films, short comedy films.

[560] If I wanted to do one again, I got to do it again.

[561] And then ultimately, I'm not, I'm sick of watching myself.

[562] I don't know what you're talking about.

[563] Yeah, you get it.

[564] Hi.

[565] I know it is really funny.

[566] All of these cameras on here are just on him.

[567] We don't even have your mic on.

[568] This is just, we're going to later try and remember what it is you said.

[569] I'm going to read over where you have a transcript of what you said.

[570] and I'm going to read it back.

[571] Right.

[572] That's the creepiest idea.

[573] A guy has lost his mind to that degree.

[574] That's Alex Jones, right?

[575] You didn't know it, but he was here.

[576] We're working our way towards that format.

[577] We'll get there.

[578] Guys, it's a corporate move.

[579] Came from up top.

[580] I'm curious, what's it like now?

[581] you're in this position where you are getting to meet these directors, these people that made your childhood help form your sensibility.

[582] Do you have an easy time walking in and going, hey, how are you?

[583] Or do you get a little self -conscious around people like that?

[584] It depends who.

[585] Yeah.

[586] And it's not necessarily a one -to -one who is, you think would be easy to talk to.

[587] I remember meeting Michael Mann, and, you know, you always hear he's kind of gruff and, you know, who there are all kinds of stories can predate meeting somebody.

[588] I just felt he was so kind of warm, connected, cool, and so I had no nerves talking to the guy.

[589] Yeah, yeah.

[590] Paul Thomas Anderson, you know, he's a good friend of mine.

[591] I've spent a lot of time with him, and I'm still very nervous.

[592] around him.

[593] So it's weird.

[594] Yeah.

[595] You know, because he's just that fucking cool.

[596] He is.

[597] You get to call him PTA?

[598] I'm like, Pete.

[599] P .T. Yeah.

[600] PTA.

[601] No. Yeah, I do.

[602] I think I have called him.

[603] Because Sandler's friends with him.

[604] He's always saying things like, hey, Connie.

[605] Calls me Connie.

[606] Hey, since SNL days.

[607] But he sticks with that.

[608] And he goes, hey, Connie.

[609] Yeah, I just had, you know, I'm having a sandwich with PTA.

[610] And I'm always remembering like, wait, you're what?

[611] Why are you meeting a parent teacher?

[612] I'm like, oh, I forgot I'm not cool.

[613] But, yeah, another great.

[614] You forgot for a second?

[615] I just, I'm sorry.

[616] I forgot I was.

[617] It's because you actually have lunch with the parent -teacher association.

[618] Yeah, and I'm disappointed when Paul Thomas Anderson shows up.

[619] No, no one says Paul Thomas Anderson anymore.

[620] No one says that anymore.

[621] People say PTA.

[622] Okay, well, I guess I'm not, didn't get the memo.

[623] My whole life.

[624] If I ever write an autobiography, it's like, I didn't get the memo.

[625] No. By the way, he would disagree with me, by the way.

[626] Like on the record, I think he would, I think he'd say, no, please.

[627] Yeah.

[628] Come Paul.

[629] Yeah, probably.

[630] I'll stop speaking for him.

[631] He does a pretty good job.

[632] Now, where are you in the midst of working on your next film?

[633] I mean, you probably can't say anything about it, but where, I don't even understand how your process works.

[634] Does an idea come to you and then it just percolates for a while?

[635] How does it happen?

[636] Yeah.

[637] I mean, this has been a, obviously an interesting year because the writer strike has had me sort of in a, a state of listening.

[638] Yep.

[639] You know, and that's kind of where I've needed to be.

[640] And I do feel like, you know, my next project is clear to me. And I'm psyched to that I have another film that, you know, it could be my favorite movie if I make it right.

[641] That's awesome.

[642] Oh, can't wait.

[643] Yeah, yeah.

[644] Yeah.

[645] That's very cool.

[646] I could be totally bullshitting you guys right now.

[647] You can't wait.

[648] I'm guessing, well, I'll be comped.

[649] You'll have to pay.

[650] Yeah, well.

[651] We'll do it.

[652] We'll just, I'll get my, yeah.

[653] No, they should, you want them to pay.

[654] Why don't you just pay for us?

[655] And then not go.

[656] Because I'd like to go for free with PTA.

[657] Oh, Jesus.

[658] It's my plus one.

[659] None of that that's on offer.

[660] I don't know that that's on offer.

[661] Thank you.

[662] Have you talked?

[663] This was going so well.

[664] This is one.

[665] I love this discussion, and then I, you pushed it too far.

[666] I pushed it too far.

[667] That's on me. I'm going to look at the tape later and go like, yeah, that's the part.

[668] That was the moment.

[669] That's the moment I ruined it.

[670] Alex Jones came out.

[671] Yeah.

[672] No, I'm still think we should move in that direction.

[673] There's a lot of money in that.

[674] Sir, it's a serious, crazy honor to have you here.

[675] And you have just, I think of all the boxes of what makes an artist, someone that I really like and you've just checked all of them and so and uh damn it it's such a young age frustrates me um no that's that's but such a i'm just very cool to have you here and to get to talk to you and to getting to hang out with you the other day and have that crazy experience where we thought of a movie which i'm convinced it's going to make a billion dollars it's the next barbie maybe that's his next project yeah but he's not talking about maybe yeah yeah and i'll be conveniently cut out of it there was no deal there wasn't we didn't there was no agreement that there would be any actual financial i wouldn't need it it would just be the joy of seeing my name above yours is that what you think do you know how many films i've made have you seen my films anybody you haven't made any oh right forgot again way over my skis uh jordan thank you so much thank you guys for having so cool to have you here and um we got to do this again some time.

[676] I would love it.

[677] All right.

[678] And work me in, a cameo somehow.

[679] Well, hey, if you're serious.

[680] I am serious.

[681] So we're doing a slender man. Many delightful things have happened on this podcast over the last five years, but I maintain that my favorite audio moment, and this is really saying something because I think we've had some great audio moments.

[682] But for me personally, was recently we had Werner Herzog.

[683] Great filmmaker, director, documentarian Werner Herzog.

[684] was on the show, and we're chatting with him.

[685] It was an amazing.

[686] I loved the conversation, and I think we got a lot of terrific response about it.

[687] I think you guys know where I'm going with this.

[688] At one point, he was talking, I think, about pop culture and how he's, yes, he tries to stay somewhat familiar with it.

[689] And then inadvertently, out of nowhere, he mentioned a reality show, and I think he qualified up by saying, I'm not sure this is still on any longer.

[690] But then he mentioned the reality show, and the name of the show, combined with Werner Herzog's unique delivery, delighted me. Didn't just delight me, but it stayed in my head for days afterwards.

[691] It's just this lozenge that just keeps on giving.

[692] It doesn't lose its power.

[693] It was 100 % the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth.

[694] Exactly.

[695] And he got the full title.

[696] Nobody calls it that.

[697] Everyone just calls it by the name.

[698] Yeah, but he got the full title.

[699] He said it in his voice and then the way he says it.

[700] So, Eduardo, if you would do the honors, this is Werner Herzog saying something that really makes me happy in three, two, one.

[701] Here comes honey, boo -boo.

[702] I'm sorry.

[703] It's the boo -poo.

[704] Here comes honey.

[705] Again.

[706] Here comes honey -boo -boo.

[707] How does that not cure cancer, end all wars.

[708] How does that not reduce carbon emissions worldwide immediately, close the ozone layer?

[709] Maybe it will.

[710] Yeah, I mean.

[711] I feel seen because I want to say I, because I think he's so, he's just on such a high pedestal.

[712] Yep, yep.

[713] But then there's something he and I have in common, which is shitty reality shows.

[714] Yes.

[715] And so we're the same person.

[716] Yeah, there's that.

[717] There's that.

[718] But the best part is more about the, there's the sound.

[719] Yeah.

[720] To me, yes, that's nice.

[721] That's nice.

[722] I get what you're saying.

[723] But to me, it's about this.

[724] Here comes honey booboo.

[725] Listen to the booboo.

[726] I know.

[727] It's so belabored.

[728] Honey boobo.

[729] In fact, Eduardo, as we talk, just pepper it in as we talk.

[730] Whenever you like, don't even wait for us.

[731] Here comes honey booboo.

[732] Yeah, it's the booboo.

[733] It's the...

[734] Here comes honey boobo.

[735] Yeah, that's very good.

[736] But not as good as this.

[737] Here comes honey booboo.

[738] Yeah.

[739] It's, I don't know, I think when it's my time to go, which is who knows when, but people always talk about what is it they want, and I'm thinking, I want, you know, to have a really good Pinot Noir, I want to eat a really good Sicilian fin crust pizza, and then I want them to start turning up the dials on various things that will take me to the next plane.

[740] And then I just want to hear this over and over and over.

[741] Here comes honey booboo.

[742] Over and over.

[743] Just go.

[744] Here comes honey boobo.

[745] Over and over as I leave this earth.

[746] Here comes honey boobo.

[747] Here comes honey boobo.

[748] I mean, I just want to, I think that would make me happy.

[749] The odds of that happening in our lifetimes are just astronomical and we got to be before.

[750] Here comes honey boobo.

[751] Yes, the fact that has he ever said that, maybe he has, but he said it to us and there were microphones around and we captured.

[752] Just the fact that we are living in a time where.

[753] Werner Herzog existed and Here Comes Honey Boo Existed and they meant it wrong.

[754] Oh, sorry.

[755] Here comes Honey Boo.

[756] It's here comes Honey Boo.

[757] Here comes Honey Boo.

[758] I want someone to do a dance song and just have that looped.

[759] And loop that.

[760] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[761] We have really creative fans.

[762] Maybe someone can do it.

[763] The question is, is there somewhere out there is Honey Boo Boo Boo herself going?

[764] I watch Little Deeter learns to fly.

[765] I watch what?

[766] Little Deeter learns to fly.

[767] No. What?

[768] It's your accent.

[769] It's the accent.

[770] What is that accent?

[771] That's Honey Boo Boo's accent.

[772] I know, but it's really funny coming for you.

[773] Do it again.

[774] I want to see it.

[775] I watch Little Dieter learns to fly.

[776] Oh, say that she also likes Grizzly Man. I like Grizzly Man. I like a griere Rath of God.

[777] Oh, that's the best one.

[778] I like a Gere, do that again.

[779] I like Gerey Rath of God.

[780] And then...

[781] Here comes Honey Boo Boo.

[782] Now, let's do...

[783] He's announcing that she's coming with her favorite...

[784] say her favorite movie and then you say and then you come in uh honey booboo and say your favorite movie and go here comes honey booboo i like a gear a wrath of god perfect that's really good do me a favor this is what i want i want verner herzog to say here that he hears footsteps okay and so he says here comes honey booboo and then i want to hear a door open and then i want to hear goarly.

[785] Everybody all set?

[786] So here we go.

[787] Here comes honey boo -boo.

[788] I watched a gear a wrath of God.

[789] Now, is that does that, I don't, I think my door opening was okay, but then I did I think, yeah, that was like a monster coming.

[790] But also, I think I was, you know what, she was, I think I had her on a pogo stick.

[791] I think you did.

[792] Oh, that's good.

[793] Yeah, you do the foot.

[794] Yeah, no, that's even better.

[795] Let's try it.

[796] And let's try it again.

[797] Let's try it again.

[798] I can't do sound effects.

[799] You're going to do it.

[800] Here we go.

[801] Well, just so we have the order.

[802] It's got to go.

[803] Footsteps.

[804] Here comes Honey Boo Boo.

[805] Door opens Aguirre Arathicogh.

[806] Yes.

[807] Here we go.

[808] Yes.

[809] Here we go.

[810] And, and go.

[811] Wait, wait.

[812] What did you do?

[813] What was that?

[814] Piffy Pitt.

[815] Piffy Pitt?

[816] What was Piffy Pitt?

[817] What was Piffy Pitt?

[818] I say we'd keep it.

[819] Just do it.

[820] Try it again.

[821] again.

[822] Pip -pity -pip -pid -th.

[823] Oh, my God.

[824] Here comes honey -boo -boo.

[825] Then the door.

[826] I wasa -giri -rath -Ga -Gar.

[827] All right, let's try it one more time.

[828] We'll tighten it up.

[829] Sona, go.

[830] Pit -pity -pit -pity -pip -pip -pish.

[831] Here comes honey -boo -boo -boon.

[832] I watch the Gary -Rath -a -God.

[833] I think we almost got it except...

[834] What is Piffy, Piffy -Piff?

[835] Why is she wearing a weird slipper?

[836] It's made a...

[837] Well, how would you guys do the footsteps?

[838] That's a, that's a horse.

[839] Yeah, she's coming on a horse, or she's been shod.

[840] What are you doing?

[841] She's tap dancing in.

[842] Come on, no, you guys aren't better.

[843] Why does she heartbeat walk?

[844] She has aphib.

[845] She has a fib, a rare form of aphib that travels down and it vibrates the IT band.

[846] You guys are shitty You guys know I can't do footstep Yeah except you pithy pithy pith Oh I'd love to hear her do all the sound effects It was a cold night Wishy -washy wishy -washy When the old man came Pithy Pithy Pithy Piff Why joke when you can get her to do it With his faithful horse Let's do the faith And his faithful horse was with him Cluck -le -clic -cly -cli -cly No Why doesn't it speak Somewhere like that But why did you do clickety clackety?

[847] Because yeah, I was walking, the horse was walking in.

[848] And just then, an alien ship landed.

[849] Vium.

[850] Stupid.

[851] And then they all made smoothies in a blender.

[852] It's a good blender.

[853] All right, listen, let's agree that as great as Sona was right now and as fantastic, much fun as we had, good times we had, nothing beats.

[854] Here comes honey boo -boo.

[855] Mr. Herzog, you're our hero.

[856] Conan O 'Brien needs a friend with Conan O 'Brien, Sonam O 'Sessian, and Matt Gourley.

[857] Produced by me, Matt Gourley.

[858] Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Nick Liao, and Jeff Ross at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson and Cody Fisher at Earwolf.

[859] Theme song by The White Stripes.

[860] Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino.

[861] Take it away, Jimmy.

[862] Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples.

[863] Engineering by Eduardo Perez, additional production support by Mars Melnick, talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn.

[864] You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode.

[865] Got a question for Conan?

[866] Call the Team Coco hotline at 669 -587 -2847 and leave a message.

[867] It too could be featured on a future episode.

[868] And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O 'Brien needs a friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

[869] You know,