Conan O’Brien Must Go: Austria Roundtable Discussion

Conan is joined by Conan O’Brien Must Go writers Mike Sweeney, Jessie Gaskell, and Jose Arroyo to for a deep dive into how they secured the most iconic scenic shots and accidentally picked up random tourists during their visit to Austria.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Conan O'Brien?

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• 0:46Speaker 01

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• 1:20Speaker 02

  Conan O'Brien needs a fan. Wanna talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com/callconan. Okay, let's get started.

• 1:29Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, Conan O'Brien here. And this is our third podcast episode about my Max series, Conan O'Brien Must Go. This is the third because today, our third episode of Conan O'Brien Must Go drops. And this one may be a personal favorite of mine. It is Austria. And it is jam-packed with foolishness, inanity, and insanity. I'm... I'm a man who's never been afraid to put on a fake mustache or beard. You'll be seeing plenty of that in this episode. Later, Hudson.

• 2:14Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I am very happy with this episode.

• 2:19Conan O'Brien?

  And it was a little bit of a strange one. Yes. For circumstances I will explain, but first I'd like to tell you who's here with me. It's my team, my squad, my, my girl squad. Who helps me with all of these episodes. The nuclear core behind all the travel shows, going back to Conan Without Borders on TBS and now the Max Show. You got Mike Sweeney. Hello, Mike.

• 2:46Speaker 03

  Hello, Conan.

• 2:48Conan O'Brien?

  And you also have Jesse Gaskell. Hello, Jesse.

• 2:51Speaker 02

  Hi, Conan. Thanks for having us.

• 2:53Conan O'Brien?

  And of course, Jose Arroyo. Hey, hi, Conan. And this is Austria.

• 3:01Speaker 02

  Osterreich.

• 3:03Conan O'Brien?

  The Osterreich?

• 3:04Speaker 02

  Osterreich.

• 3:05Conan O'Brien?

  Osterreich. And this one was a little bit strange because, um, not to get too heavy, but I just think it's worth, you know, noting how we did it, which is quite unusual. We went to Austria late November. I got the call about hosting the Oscars. I said, yes, I would like to do that. And then we asked Nina Rosenstein at Max.

• 3:32Conan O'Brien?

  Is it okay if we do that? And she said, yes, we're thrilled with you doing the Oscars, but we, we, we do need you to finish up the last travel show. That would be great if you could do that. And we said, of course. So we immediately rushed off to Austria to start shooting and we were working our way across the country. And I think we were maybe halfway through our travel show.

• 3:57Speaker 03

  We were exactly halfway.

• 3:59Conan O'Brien?

  Halfway through, when I got a call that my father had passed away.

• 4:05Conan O'Brien?

  And so immediately we dropped everything. I jumped in a van, flew a couple of flights back to Boston, got there. And then two days after arriving, my mom passed away. And so it was this very powerful, strange time. And it was this double funeral and everything was sort of chaotic and hard to process.

• 4:36Conan O'Brien?

  And then a really lovely gesture I'll just pass along is that

• 4:42Conan O'Brien?

  suddenly at the funeral in Boston, Mike Sweeney shows up with Jeff Ross, with Sonum of Sessian, with Jason Chalomi, with Adam. And if I'm forgetting anyone, tell me. But I was, that meant a lot to me. So I want to thank you guys for doing that. You then charged me for your airfare.

• 5:05Speaker 03

  I had Celtics tickets.

• 5:06Conan O'Brien?

  You had Celtics tickets.

• 5:10Conan O'Brien?

  But anyway, that blew my mind when you guys walked into the church. That was, I'll never forget that. And Jesse, I don't know why you weren't there.

• 5:18Speaker 02

  I wasn't invited. They didn't tell me they were going.

• 5:20Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And actually, you came and I had a bouncer out front. I was the only guy that had a bouncer at a wake, at an Irish wake.

• 5:27Speaker 03

  It's a private, private.

• 5:28Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. And, but anyway, it was, so that happens. And then suddenly we're into, it's Christmas, then the fires.

• 5:41Speaker 02

  Oh, my God.

• 5:41Conan O'Brien?

  Then dislocated from my home and we're working on the Oscars. I'm in a, I'm living in a hotel craziness. And then

• 5:52Conan O'Brien?

  The Mark Twain? Then the Mark Twain thing happened after the Oscars. Yeah. And then it was immediately the day after the Twain, the next morning, we all jumped on planes. Yes. And flew to Austria to continue the Austria show.

• 6:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, Max was like, pick it back up.

• 6:07Conan O'Brien?

  Exactly. And

• 6:09Speaker 03

  You're running out of excuses.

• 6:11Conan O'Brien?

  You're running out of excuses.

• 6:12Speaker 02

  No more Ted Perrin.

• 6:13Conan O'Brien?

  But I'm getting another award. We're sick of you and your made up awards. I'm getting the Oh, Henry Award. And there's a twist at the end where there's no award. So anyway, we go to, back to Austria and it was the first time we've ever done that, for three days.

• 6:33Speaker 03

  To wind it up.

• 6:33Conan O'Brien?

  But what was very interesting is that because of all this stuff that had happened before, and because I was kind of running on fumes, I think I was sillier during those three days.

• 6:42Speaker 02

  Oh, my God.

• 6:43Conan O'Brien?

  I was, I was extra crazy silly.

• 6:48Conan O'Brien?

  And pre-associating like someone on drugs and that. So when you guys put the show together.

• 6:54Speaker 02

  You were in a fugue state.

• 6:55Conan O'Brien?

  I was in a fugue state.

• 6:57Speaker 03

  Perfect for Vienna.

• 6:58Conan O'Brien?

  No, it really was. And I think all of that combined makes it

• 7:05Conan O'Brien?

  A very interesting travel series and one that, I mean, I watch it and I know that it's like bifurcated. It's divided between, this is before I hear about my parents. This is, this is much later afterwards, I'm back, um, but the viewer wouldn't know that, but it's just interesting.

• 7:25Speaker 03

  Also weather exactly, exactly the same four months later.

• 7:29Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, more or less. Well, it was Christmasy, there was some Christmasy vibes.

• 7:34Speaker 03

  Some decorations.

• 7:35Conan O'Brien?

  And then, um, but yeah, pretty much you'd never know.

• 7:38Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 7:38Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, I just brought it up because I thought people like inside baseball and that is something that's happened in that show. That's never happened. We've never had to leave a country and then come back to it a couple of months later to finish one show.

• 7:51Conan O'Brien?

  But there's so many silly little ideas in that show. You guys go.

• 7:55Speaker 04

  Well, we went back, we went back specifically to have you record in Vienna because we had done other parts of the country already. And then, uh, we paused it when we, we were in Lynn's and you got the word about your dad. And, uh, I remember you came down to the breakfast area and you, and it was just you and me. And you said, um, there's no easy way to say this, but my father passed away. And then, uh, Mike Sweeney and Jeff Ross came in and you just said, I know one thing. I won't be taking a yodeling lesson today.

• 8:26Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Because that was on the schedule for that day.

• 8:29Speaker 04

  That was on the schedule for that day.

• 8:30Conan O'Brien?

  I was gonna meet up with a fan and learn how to yodel.

• 8:32Speaker 04

  I know one thing.

• 8:33Conan O'Brien?

  And I, and I, and I just knew that like, you can't, if you hear about your.

• 8:36Speaker 02

  You weren't in the right headspace.

• 8:37Conan O'Brien?

  If you hear about your father, but also I knew that if you hear about your father passing away unexpectedly and you go, right. Okay, time to yodel.

• 8:46Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 8:47Conan O'Brien?

  In leather shorts.

• 8:48Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 8:49Conan O'Brien?

  That is the definition of a sociopath.

• 8:53Speaker 04

  So you, you were, you were a more evolved sociopath than you took a car to the airport and you went home.

• 8:58Conan O'Brien?

  You know, what was weird is that you guys were very nice and you were like. Conan, you need to pack and, and, and of course Jeff was great. He was like, you know, we, and Chalomi, they were like, we got a car downstairs. It's gonna take you to the, they scrambled, you're gonna take this airline to this, you know, city and then to that city and that's gonna get you to Heathrow and then you're gonna go. And I'm acting like I'm all together, like, oh yeah, no, no, that's okay. And look, these, you know, these things happen and, and I'm putting a watch on, just a watch, a regular watch. And I kept putting it on upside down and backwards. And I kept, I did that like five times.

• 9:35Speaker 02

  Oh wow.

• 9:35Conan O'Brien?

  I didn't, I was so, on the surface, I was acting like, uh huh, uh huh, well, I appreciate that. And I guess we can pick up this later. I should go home. And, but in total, sort of Irish Catholic denial about whatever I'm feeling. And the way I knew it was that I kept putting my watch on and then I'd look at it and it was facing down and away like this.

• 9:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:58Conan O'Brien?

  And then I'd do it again and it would be on this side. And I, and I was like, I suddenly didn't know how to do the most elemental thing in the world, which is put a watch on.

• 10:06Speaker 02

  Yeah. Well, it's nice to know you're human. It's, I mean, really.

• 10:11Speaker 04

  Oh, yes, a human side.

• 10:12Speaker 02

  Okay, I guess that's fair.

• 10:14Speaker 04

  Exactly, exactly.

• 10:15Conan O'Brien?

  How do we know that I just don't know how to put a watch on?

• 10:20Speaker 04

  He's watched Lexi.

• 10:21Conan O'Brien?

  You look at me and I, I've got this hangling from my earlobe. Well, see you later. Oh, that wasn't a sign of mourning.

• 10:30Speaker 04

  But we went back specifically to get the capital city, which is what we had sort of.

• 10:35Speaker 02

  Vienna waited for you.

• 10:37Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 10:37Conan O'Brien?

  Nice.

• 10:38Speaker 04

  Nice, nice.

• 10:39Speaker 03

  We spent a couple, after you left the first time, we had to cool our heels in Vienna for a few days. And while we were there, we were there alone with Jordan. We shot some stuff with him.

• 10:53Conan O'Brien?

  Which is Dante's eighth layer of hell.

• 10:56Speaker 03

  Six through eight. And we shot something with him and,

• 11:00Speaker 02

  Jordan was in heaven.

• 11:01Speaker 03

  Using. So that, that worked out. And but it was, it was, we went back to Vienna. The fan who was supposed to meet us in Linz, where he lived. We had him meet us and it worked out great.

• 11:11Speaker 04

  In a park in Miami and he was wonderful.

• 11:13Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 11:14Conan O'Brien?

  And I did yodel.

• 11:15Speaker 02

  You did.

• 11:16Speaker 03

  You learned to yodel.

• 11:17Conan O'Brien?

  I did yodel.

• 11:18Speaker 03

  And your watch went on correctly.

• 11:19Speaker 02

  You dissociated enough to yodel again.

• 11:21Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 11:21Speaker 03

  Everyone's gonna check how you're wearing your watch in this show.

• 11:25Speaker 04

  It was a very musical episode.

• 11:26Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 11:27Speaker 03

  Very musical.

• 11:28Speaker 04

  And it's perfect for us.

• 11:29Conan O'Brien?

  One of my favorite things is a segment where we we visit the exact spot where Julie Andrews did the open for The Sound of Music.

• 11:38Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 11:38Conan O'Brien?

  And Jose Arroyo.

• 11:41Speaker 02

  It was not easy to coordinate.

• 11:42Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, not easy to coordinate, but, but, but it's the exact, exact spot, like literally down to exactly where I'm standing.

• 11:49Speaker 03

  It's secret that you have to get, we had to go through a lot of different channels.

• 11:53Conan O'Brien?

  You have to go to Julie Andrews.

• 11:57Conan O'Brien?

  You have to talk to all the actors who played the children and they have to be lined up on a staircase.

• 12:00Speaker 04

  A lovely goat herd.

• 12:01Speaker 03

  Public is not allowed there and the, it's on private property and the owner is very reticent to, because 10 years ago, they let ABC shoot there and I, I think they felt like it over-publicized it or something.

• 12:16Conan O'Brien?

  Well, it was an episode of Lost.

• 12:17Speaker 03

  Exactly.

• 12:17Conan O'Brien?

  And I think that's.

• 12:18Speaker 02

  Oh, they were just mad that it didn't wrap up.

• 12:20Speaker 03

  But you were going to say Jose.

• 12:22Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, Jose, Jose wrote this song, which is all about us not being able to clear The Sound of Music.

• 12:28Speaker 04

  We couldn't get the rights.

• 12:29Conan O'Brien?

  Of course you can't get the rights, so you wrote a song about that, which is in a similar vein, but not, of course not, and no art, no lawyer could would, could find any similarity.

• 12:38Speaker 03

  Right.

• 12:39Conan O'Brien?

  But it was, it's really great work, Jose, and, and very creative and, and the way it's shot and I was very, every now and then we get to do a little set piece. Like one of my favorite travel shows from the TBS days was the Italy show because we do a little Italian movie. Every now and then we get to do a little, and, and I really love those. I mean, I love the, nothing will ever beat spontaneous, fun moments that we have with, and, and I'll say that from my late night career and just in general, and nothing will ever, those are my favorite moments, but every now and then there's just a little moment to have a set piece where we get to

• 13:19Conan O'Brien?

  really shoot it like cinematographers and choreograph it a little bit and you wrote this music and we kept, and when we get into those things, I'm obsessive about. If Jose has put this much effort into it, I want it to be just right too. So I'll ask for multiple takes. I won't say, hey, we gotta go. I want to make sure it's just what you have in your head.

• 13:41Speaker 04

  Thank you. You were in later, Jose.

• 13:43Speaker 02

  I was gonna say, it was short.

• 13:44Speaker 04

  And it was cold up on that mountain.

• 13:52Conan O'Brien?

  Who do you shop for first on the holidays, Sona? Do you shop for the kids or do you shop for Tac?

• 13:57Speaker 02

  My kids.

• 13:57Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 13:58Speaker 02

  Or Oki. Or my dog.

• 14:00Conan O'Brien?

  And then your husband is last. Well, guess what? It's that time of year. You feel that. You smell that cinnamon cider in the air? Do you smell that?

• 14:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:10Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys. A little early to buy a turkey. Doesn't matter. Holidays? I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's very nearby in the cupboard. Well, guess what? Amazon delivers joy with low prices on the gifts you want, even this early in the season. So get ahead of the season. Shop early gifts, top picks, holiday decor, and advent calendars at low prices. Get a head start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday.

• 14:46Conan O'Brien?

  This fall, I want to try something different.

• 14:48Speaker 02

  What?

• 14:48Conan O'Brien?

  I like to change it up. I like to learn things. So I'm gonna try and make apple cider.

• 14:52Speaker 02

  Ooh.

• 14:52Conan O'Brien?

  Every morning.

• 14:53Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 14:54Conan O'Brien?

  This fall, just to see if I can do it.

• 14:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, fall's the perfect season to try something new, like joining T-Mobile.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  Oh, that's good.

• 15:01Conan O'Brien?

  See what I did?

• 15:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:02Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, there are 250 reasons to join T-Mobile right now. You want to hear what they are?

• 15:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:06Conan O'Brien?

  They're America's best network.

• 15:07Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 15:08Conan O'Brien?

  True story. Plus, T-Mobile has got off-grid satellite coverage. That comes in really handy. I like to just wander in the woods sometimes.

• 15:15Speaker 02

  Oh, that's weird.

• 15:15Conan O'Brien?

  When I'm thinking about, like, making apple cider. And that's when it comes in handy. Here's another reason. High-speed data in over 215 countries and destinations. I travel a lot for the

• 15:25Speaker 02

  You travel a lot.

• 15:25Conan O'Brien?

  Travel show that I do.

• 15:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:27Conan O'Brien?

  Stream this podcast while ignoring local landmarks. That's always fun to do. Like, oh, look, there's the Mona Lisa. Yeah, check it out. I'm in the Louvre. I should, but I'm listening to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.

• 15:37Speaker 02

  That doesn't seem like a good idea.

• 15:38Conan O'Brien?

  It's a great idea.

• 15:39Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 15:40Conan O'Brien?

  You know, you can see art anytime. But how often can you listen to this podcast?

• 15:45Speaker 02

  My god.

• 15:46Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Now, all these reasons make T-Mobile a great choice.

• 15:50Speaker 02

  I agree.

• 15:50Conan O'Brien?

  T-Mobile is stacking up reasons to join. Go to T-Mobile.com and find yours best. Based on analysis by Ookla of speed test intelligence data first half of 2026. Can't believe I read that. T-Satellite with capable devices in most outdoor areas in the US where you can see the sky. High-speed international data with qualifying plan. Visit T-Mobile.com, consult a physician. I just threw that in there.

• 16:14Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 16:19Conan O'Brien?

  We all have those pieces in our closet we can count on. Sona, I imagine for you it's that leather jacket I got you.

• 16:24Speaker 02

  Are you gonna do a bit?

• 16:25Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, it's a really nice leather jacket I got you once.

• 16:27Speaker 02

  I had that and then I replaced it and yes, I use it all the time.

• 16:31Conan O'Brien?

  We all have that versatile jacket, the perfect t-shirt, and those are the pieces that make getting dressed easy. And you know what I was thinking about this morning?

• 16:40Speaker 02

  What?

• 16:41Conan O'Brien?

  Quince. They do it best. They really do. I was really thinking about this.

• 16:44Speaker 02

  What a coincidence that we're doing an ad for them.

• 16:46Conan O'Brien?

  No, a co-coincidence.

• 16:48Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 16:50Conan O'Brien?

  That's why I get the big money.

• 16:52Speaker 02

  I gotta go.

• 16:52Conan O'Brien?

  Cut to very small amount of money. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials and designs that are timeless, thoughtful, crafted, and made to be worn again and again. And when the temperature starts to drop, Quince makes it easy to build on those everyday staples with versatile layers. Layer up. That's the key. Now, Blay, you're using some Quince.

• 17:12Speaker 05

  That's right. I'm spending a lot of time back east in Michigan. It's getting a little colder, so I got a featherless quilted jacket in Atlas Navy, and I just feel like a different guy. I feel classy.

• 17:22Conan O'Brien?

  You look like a different guy because you're well-dressed.

• 17:25Speaker 05

  That's right.

• 17:25Conan O'Brien?

  No, I'm serious. He looks like a hobo half the time.

• 17:27Speaker 05

  That's true. He's right. That's true.

• 17:29Conan O'Brien?

  No, they really do great stuff. Find your next fall favorites at Quince. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK as well.

• 17:42Speaker 02

  All right.

• 17:42Conan O'Brien?

  And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Please do that. Say, by the way, I heard about this on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Oh, I didn't really ask. I just want you to know.

• 17:56Conan O'Brien?

  It's the best way to support the show.

• 18:01Conan O'Brien?

  Now Sona, clearly I'm a very important person to you.

• 18:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 18:04Conan O'Brien?

  Just accept the premise and we'll move ahead.

• 18:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 18:07Conan O'Brien?

  I'm a very important person to you. What would you get me from Macy's for the holidays?

• 18:12Speaker 02

  A vase.

• 18:14Conan O'Brien?

  No, I don't want a vase. I want something better.

• 18:16Speaker 02

  A jacket.

• 18:18Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, nice jacket. I love a nice jacket.

• 18:19Speaker 02

  Oh yeah, that jacket. Nice jacket.

• 18:21Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, so now you have to do it, because you said you would.

• 18:22Speaker 02

  Aw man, I didn't know you were doing that.

• 18:24Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I know the holidays, I know the holidays are months away, but it's never too early, Sona, to find gifts that I will love, gifts I will wear, and surprises that make the season unforgettable for me.

• 18:36Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 18:36Conan O'Brien?

  Macy's Gift Guide makes holiday shopping easy with beauty favorites, stylish fashion, jewelry, cozy essentials, must-have toys, home upgrades, and picks for every person on your list. Coach handbags, Breville appliances, Lego UG, and more, all in one place so you can skip the scrolling and shop with confidence. Shop now in-store or online at macy's.com/giftguide.

• 19:04Speaker 03

  You know, Julie Andrews, it was a helicopter, of course, in 1965, but

• 19:09Conan O'Brien?

  64.

• 19:10Speaker 03

  That she shot it. It came out in 65.

• 19:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, they shot it in 64.

• 19:14Speaker 03

  Right, but I thought people would relate more to when the movie came out.

• 19:18Conan O'Brien?

  I think people relate to the truth.

• 19:19Speaker 02

  Get a room, you two.

• 19:21Conan O'Brien?

  Anyway, when they shot it, they used a real helicopter.

• 19:24Speaker 03

  Oh, who gives a fuck?

• 19:26Conan O'Brien?

  They used a real helicopter with Julie Andrews. And true story, the helicopter, they didn't know how to get the shot, and the guy who was directing the movie said, "I'll do it." And he got in the helicopter, and he's hanging out of a helicopter. But the helicopter has to come really close to Julie Andrews. And the backwash from a helicopter is a serious deal. So, it's, you know, fans of that movie who know the behind the scenes know that when she's going, when the music is swelling and she's walking up the hill as I recreate, we're doing it with a drone. She was doing it with a massive Vietnam-era helicopter. She got flattened a couple of times by the, just the wind. She got knocked down, and they kept making her do it over and over and over again.

• 20:11Conan O'Brien?

  And apparently, at one point, I've heard, "Julie Andrews, lost your temper." I was like, "What the fuck? How's this fucking pull this shit together?" I'm fucking, I got fucking knocked down.

• 20:22Speaker 02

  I'll make 15 fucking times.

• 20:24Conan O'Brien?

  But she did it at the highest register with a beautiful multi octave ring.

• 20:29Speaker 03

  Fuck you fucking assholes. They also trucked it, like, there's a scene where she walks along a brook and through some poplar trees. They, that was all trucked in. They built a stream. They ran a, yeah, all that was made.

• 20:45Conan O'Brien?

  It was manufactured.

• 20:47Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 20:47Conan O'Brien?

  But anyway, um, that was.

• 20:49Speaker 03

  Oh, you know what else? There was a ski lift. Ooh, we had this great drone shot. There's a ski lift to one side and all these new buildings. So our, our great graphics artist painstakingly. Chris Weller. Chris Weller painted them out.

• 21:03Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. He also painstakingly repaired my face.

• 21:09Conan O'Brien?

  So that I appear to be prettier than two. Late, late 30s and a male. Lowered the hem of your later hosen by three inches. There was an issue there. Yeah, yeah. With standards.

• 21:20Speaker 05

  Can I say one thing, which is.

• 21:22Conan O'Brien?

  This better be good.

• 21:23Speaker 05

  Well, well, speaking of.

• 21:25Conan O'Brien?

  And we should identify this as Aaron Blair or as we call him, Blay.

• 21:27Speaker 05

  Hi. You know, we started this show in Zurich. You know, we, we landed and we started in Zurich. We spent the night in Zurich and kind of these, on these shows, we have a local crew. And so we're meeting these people for the first time. And does anyone, do you want to talk about kind of what happened?

• 21:44Speaker 03

  That's a great story.

• 21:45Speaker 05

  The first day? Oh, well, anyway. So we're kind of running around. Jose was in the bathroom, so we're kind of waiting for Jose.

• 21:53Conan O'Brien?

  Jose's always in the bathroom.

• 21:54Speaker 05

  And, and we're all, we're all, we're like, where's Jose? Where's Jose? And we're all in the bus, ready to go and we're going to drive.

• 21:59Conan O'Brien?

  He's seated on the toilet, urinating.

• 22:01Speaker 05

  Yes. But I think Sweeney.

• 22:03Conan O'Brien?

  The bus did not have a bathroom.

• 22:04Speaker 05

  We were going to drive to Austria. We're driving.

• 22:06Speaker 03

  We're driving to the town of Feldt.

• 22:07Conan O'Brien?

  From Switzerland into.

• 22:08Speaker 05

  Right, right.

• 22:09Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 22:09Speaker 05

  And so finally, and I kind of get off the bus and here comes Jose and we're like, okay, we're all ready to go. And we start going and we're traveling.

• 22:16Conan O'Brien?

  Driving, driving, driving, driving.

• 22:18Speaker 05

  Driving for a while. And then in the very, I'm just kind of sitting towards the back.

• 22:21Speaker 03

  Forty minutes.

• 22:22Speaker 05

  Forty minutes, a good, a solid 40 minutes.

• 22:24Conan O'Brien?

  And this recounting of it better be not as long.

• 22:26Speaker 05

  That's right.

• 22:27Conan O'Brien?

  Go ahead.

• 22:27Speaker 05

  And then I hear behind me, there's some talking and our drone guy stands up and goes, where?

• 22:32Conan O'Brien?

  Where, you know, are we going to the city center? And everyone's kind of talking. And then we go, no, we're driving to Feldkirch. He goes, I can't, I have to go to the city center. I can't go to Feldkirch. And it just happened that he was not our drone guy. He was a random tourist who got on the bus.

• 22:48Speaker 05

  He saw us all getting on a bus. Thought it was a tour bus.

• 22:50Speaker 03

  He thought it was a hotel shuttle bus.

• 22:52Conan O'Brien?

  Way out of our, way, way out of his way. And he suddenly realized that he's part of a Conan O'Brien must go shoot. That's taking him to god knows where. He's probably gonna have to yodel.

• 23:04Speaker 02

  He said, no, I'm with Stanley Tucci. He should be on.

• 23:07Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I'm supposed to be with Eva Longoria.

• 23:08Speaker 05

  But we were driving for like almost an hour.

• 23:10Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 23:11Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, and he looked quite upset.

• 23:12Speaker 03

  He was upset.

• 23:14Conan O'Brien?

  And it's not our fault. I think someone at the hotel said, I think he said, is that the bus to the city center? And someone at the hotel went, yeah, you know? And so off he went. But, uh.

• 23:24Speaker 04

  They had to drop him off at a gas station. He literally was 40 minutes away and we.

• 23:29Speaker 02

  And he was in a wheelchair.

• 23:31Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, he was not. Well, he was on a respirator though. I also want to point out that my first memory of I wake up and uh, someone had gifted me this cool little, I like travel gear. And someone had gifted me this really cool, small hairdryer. Um, that's like folds out. I think it's Japanese. It, it folds out. It's kind of got a sleek, cool robotic ray gun look. And I was like, oh, cool. I'm gonna bring this on my, uh, to, to Austria. So, uh, that morning that we got up in Zurich, I look out the window. Oh, my God, it's Zurich.

• 24:10Conan O'Brien?

  I take a shower, I get out of the shower and I plug in my little hairdryer and I turn it on. I heard a. Every light, not just in my room, but I think on my floor, went out. And I smelled that smoke that no, you, there's a smell that an electrical appliance has, which means it will never live again. And it cannot be repaired. And so that smoke drifted up. And I looked down at this cool, little neat Japanese and folded it up really neatly and dropped it in the trash can. And then went downstairs and went, I think I just shorted. They, they were running around downstairs like there's a, a major explosion on the third floor. And I said, someone was using a Japanese hairdryer.

• 24:56Conan O'Brien?

  But it was later explained to me that you have to bring a just using the just using the converter isn't enough.

• 25:03Speaker 04

  Transformer.

• 25:04Conan O'Brien?

  You need a voltage transformer, which I didn't have. So my apologies to the hotel in Zurich, which is still, I'm told, without power.

• 25:12Speaker 03

  Right.

• 25:14Conan O'Brien?

  And there have been many casualties.

• 25:16Speaker 03

  And he's been sued by the family of the dead tourist.

• 25:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 25:19Speaker 03

  Died at the gas station.

• 25:21Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, that's not, I don't like that we took that too far. And I apologized to everyone listening. Or not far enough, yeah. But, um.

• 25:31Speaker 04

  So very musical and you encountered really great fans there as well. And that's, that's part of our homework, which is, you know, finding the people that you get to see when you get to the country.

• 25:42Speaker 02

  That's what brings us there and then we

• 25:43Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 25:44Speaker 02

  Jump off from there, yeah.

• 25:45Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 25:46Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's always meet the fan and then the fan is my reason, is my way in. And I use them, I use my fans.

• 25:55Speaker 04

  You do.

• 25:56Conan O'Brien?

  Then you pivot and, and then we, um, there is a segment that I'm there's a, I think there are the two segments that we shot in Vienna that I'm really happy with because I, I think to a degree.

• 26:11Conan O'Brien?

  It's, uh, it's me. I don't know if what happens to me, but if you put me in a

• 26:17Speaker 02

  It's classic Conan O'Brien.

• 26:18Conan O'Brien?

  If you put me in a certain outfit or a certain milieu, uh, I start, um, I start babbling and one is at the Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud's home and office that I visited, uh, and the other, there's also a snow globe museum.

• 26:37Speaker 03

  Right.

• 26:38Speaker 04

  You were riffing a lot in that one.

• 26:39Conan O'Brien?

  And then, uh, and then there's, uh, finally, uh, singing with the Vienna Boys Choir. So those are all ones where I felt very much at home, like this is me. If I've put up, was put on this earth for any reason, it was to do this. And that's both the good news and the bad news.

• 27:00Speaker 02

  Well, that's amazing that that feels so comfortable for you because I think, I don't know, I, I watch and I think, wow, that would be a lot of stress to be thrust into this situation. And, and we often do, I mean, we throw you into these shark infested waters a lot of times, but then it's like, that's

• 27:19Conan O'Brien?

  You guys gave me a beard and a cigar. Let me speak in a corny Viennese accent.

• 27:25Speaker 03

  And you looked, I have to say, the transformation

• 27:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:28Speaker 03

  was

• 27:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 27:30Speaker 03

  amazing.

• 27:30Speaker 04

  Very funny.

• 27:31Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I'm very happy, uh, with, I was very happy with, I mean, I enjoyed making this season, um, Austria, despite the, uh, complicated emotions involved in that show, uh, was, might be my favorite for just

• 27:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 27:52Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, you know, uh, I don't know, it has

• 27:55Speaker 02

  It's so funny.

• 27:56Speaker 03

  Blowing off steam.

• 27:57Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 27:58Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, maybe blowing off steam. There's something, something's being off gassed or vented, uh, and

• 28:04Speaker 03

  Oh, and there's a surprise, there's a, a bonus episode tucked into it.

• 28:09Speaker 02

  Yes, that's right.

• 28:10Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 28:10Conan O'Brien?

  Wow. Okay. That might be promising too much, a whole bonus episode, but yes, or maybe, maybe, no, it really is. No, no, no, no, leave it in.

• 28:19Speaker 03

  Well, bonus in quotes. I thought that was understood.

• 28:22Conan O'Brien?

  I'm gonna wrap this up, but again, I want to thank, uh, my intrepid team, Mike Sweeney.

• 28:28Speaker 04

  This is why I hold up a sign with my name on it.

• 28:31Conan O'Brien?

  Jose Arroyo.

• 28:33Speaker 04

  Close enough.

• 28:34Conan O'Brien?

  Jose Arroyo and, uh, and Jesse Gaskell. And, uh, I want to tell you that if you, this Max show is out now, the third episode, uh, Conan Breyer Must Go Austria. And, uh, if you would like to be considered, uh, to be one of the fans that I visit anywhere in the world,

• 28:55Conan O'Brien?

  it's pretty simple to, to, to reach out to us. Just go to teamcoco.com/apply. Once again, that's teamcoco.com/apply. And maybe I'll come visit you.

• 29:10Conan O'Brien?

  Wherever you are on this spinning, blue, lonely globe called Earth.

• 29:16Speaker 02

  So get ready. I mean, you should wake up every day, assuming Conan might show up at your door.

• 29:21Speaker 03

  Dress camera, right?

• 29:22Speaker 02

  Yes, exactly.

• 29:23Conan O'Brien?

  I had a beautiful ending that ended with the image of the Earth spinning in the black void. And then you guys came in with that stuff.

• 29:31Speaker 02

  We could end it there.

• 29:32Conan O'Brien?

  No, I just want to say that I appreciate the work that you guys have done for this show. As just microscopic inhabitants of this tiny, blue, spherical speck that drifts alone in an inky void. Are we alone? Are we not? We'll never know, but we call this place Earth.

• 29:54Conan O'Brien?

  I know you want to say something sweet. Go for it. You have to do it. Go for it. You had one more thing to add.

• 30:01Speaker 03

  Turst gas station.

• 30:02Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, I knew it!

• 30:05Speaker 06

  Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan with Conan O'Brien, Sonam of Sesian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.

• 30:22Speaker 06

  Supervising producer, Aaron Blair. Associate talent producer, Jennifer Samples. Associate producers, Sean Dougherty and Lisa Bern. Engineering by Eduardo Perez. Get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at siriusxm.com/conan. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan wherever fine podcasts are done.

• 30:51Speaker 06

  Hey, it's me, Teddy Swims. You hear that? That's life. So go grab it. Grab your old friends, grab new friends, grab a White Claw.

• 31:03Speaker 06

  Grab flavor for everyone in your group. Grab music, laughter, and moments you'll never forget. You'll never regret it. Oh, hey, man. Grab new friends, grab old friends, grab life by the glow, White Claw. Please drink responsibly. White Claw Celta Works Chicago.

• 31:21Conan O'Brien?

  Technology can generate salary recommendations in seconds, but building an offer that lands skilled talent, that takes more than just an estimate you came up with.

• 31:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're right.

• 31:31Conan O'Brien?

  That's where Robert Half's new 2027 Salary Guide can help.

• 31:35Speaker 02

  That's good.

• 31:35Conan O'Brien?

  Did we use a salary guide with you, Sona?

• 31:37Speaker 02

  Uh, no, but maybe...

• 31:39Conan O'Brien?

  For several years, I just gave you groceries, remember?

• 31:41Speaker 02

  I know, I remember that. That was not good.

• 31:43Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, well, anyway, now you got Robert Half's new 2027 Salary Guide. As a staffing firm placing talent every day, Robert Half combines compensation data with the experience of local recruiters. You can hire with the confidence that comes from experience. The new Robert Half Salary Guide is here. Visit roberthalf.com/salaryguide.