The Jazz Singer

Conan talks to jazz singer Lucy in New York City about vocal scat technique and the themes of her favorite tunes. Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply

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

• 0:02Conan O'Brien?

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

• 0:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:05Conan O'Brien?

  Just accept the premise and we'll move ahead.

• 0:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 0:08Conan O'Brien?

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

• 0:13Speaker 01

  A vase.

• 0:15Conan O'Brien?

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

• 0:17Speaker 01

  A jacket.

• 0:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, nice jacket. I love a nice jacket.

• 0:20Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, that jacket. Nice jacket.

• 0:21Conan O'Brien?

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

• 0:23Speaker 01

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

• 0:25Conan O'Brien?

  Well, 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.

• 0:37Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 0:37Conan 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.

• 1:03Conan O'Brien?

  You looking for something sweet and satisfying?

• 1:04Speaker 01

  Always.

• 1:05Conan O'Brien?

  Meet Wonderful Pistachios Chocolate Sea Salt and Chocolate Toffee, your go-to treats.

• 1:11Speaker 01

  Mmm.

• 1:11Conan O'Brien?

  Each pistachio is thinly, not thickly, thinly dipped in dark chocolate antioxidant goodness.

• 1:19Speaker 01

  The way you said that, thinly and thickly was uncomfortable.

• 1:22Conan O'Brien?

  It doesn't overwhelm the pistachio. They know what they're doing. I'm so glad they made the right choice.

• 1:28Conan O'Brien?

  Or discover Wonderful Pistachios Dubai Chocolate, the sweet indulgence you didn't know you needed with rich dark chocolate, smooth white chocolate, crispy katafi, and a delicious crunchy pistachio. I'm telling you, snack time never tasted so good.

• 1:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:42Conan O'Brien?

  Look it up in history. It never has. Never has.

• 1:46Speaker 01

  Can you?

• 1:46Conan O'Brien?

  Check out wonderfulpistachios.com to learn more about Wonderful Pistachios chocolate products.

• 1:55Speaker 02

  Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan. Want to talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com/callconan. Okay, let's get started.

• 2:05Conan O'Brien?

  Hi Lucy, welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan.

• 2:08Speaker 03

  Hello.

• 2:09Speaker 01

  Lucy.

• 2:10Conan O'Brien?

  Hi Lucy, how are you?

• 2:12Speaker 03

  Hi Sona, hi Conan. I'm great, how are you?

• 2:15Conan O'Brien?

  I'm guessing you already know Sona, is that right?

• 2:18Speaker 03

  I know her, yeah, you know, it's a small world when you're an Armenian, but, you know. But I wanted to make sure that I met you not through Sona. You know, to avoid any kind of nepotism.

• 2:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I just, I just found out today. But also, it's funny, nobody asked her if she knows me because they didn't want to seem like racist or, you know, act like, oh, you're Armenian, so you must know Sona, but we actually have met before.

• 2:45Speaker 03

  That's so funny, and I didn't tell them that I knew you, so this is good, this is good.

• 2:50Conan O'Brien?

  Well, what is, how do you say your last name Lucy?

• 2:52Speaker 03

  It's Yegazarian.

• 2:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yegazarian, okay. And, uh, do you live in the same community as, uh, as Sona?

• 3:01Speaker 03

  No, I, I live in New York, so there's no Armenians here.

• 3:05Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, you're in New York, okay, very good, very good.

• 3:06Speaker 03

  There's no Armenians here, which is good, I like it like that.

• 3:09Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, yeah, that's great, not racist at all. I hate Armenians. Those people drive me crazy.

• 3:17Speaker 03

  They do, they do.

• 3:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm with you, girl.

• 3:20Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I get street cred because when I get into, it sounds, it's just absolutely true, but whenever I take an Uber, I would say, what would you say, Sona, like 80% of the time?

• 3:30Speaker 01

  Maybe even more.

• 3:31Conan O'Brien?

  The driver is Armenian and he knows that I went to Armenia with Sona, and he's seen clips from the episode, and Sona's taught me enough little bits of Armenian that I can say, hello, how are you? Where's the restroom? And we have a nice, uh, we have a nice ride together. It's good.

• 3:49Speaker 03

  I'm really glad, but I'm really glad my Uber drivers are not Armenian. I mean, I love my people, but in moderation.

• 3:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's too much, I avoid the Irish at all costs. Really, a horrible tribe, a horrible tribe. Well, tell me about yourself, what do you do Lucy?

• 4:06Speaker 03

  Uh, I'm a jazz singer.

• 4:08Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, very cool.

• 4:10Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 4:11Conan O'Brien?

  That's great.

• 4:11Speaker 03

  Kind of stereotypically as New York as it gets, I know, but um, but I, when I moved to New York, I came here with a degree in world history, so I was looking for a job with that. And I couldn't find one and I'd been singing for years and years and I had to pay the rent. I was so broke and people kept calling for, you know, restaurant gigs and things like that. So I kind of gave up and I was like, all right, I guess I'll just continue with the singing thing. And it's been a long, long time now that I'm doing that. So, um, yeah, I do that. And then during COVID, I opened a little cookie business because there was no work and, you know, I needed the money. So I do a little bit of that on the side, but overall I'm, I'm just a singer.

• 4:50Conan O'Brien?

  Well, quick question, Sona, have you heard Lucy perform?

• 4:53Speaker 01

  I have, and uh, she is absolutely amazing. And I'm not just saying that because I've met her and I know her. I, I, she is such an incredible jazz singer and I'll send you her stuff. I, I think you should definitely.

• 5:06Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I'd like to listen to it.

• 5:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, she's really, really amazing.

• 5:09Conan O'Brien?

  That's really impressive and I'm just curious, how did you get into jazz singing? It's so specific. You must have known at an early age, oh, I have a good voice. I have a good control of my voice and I like this kind of music.

• 5:22Speaker 03

  You know, when, and see, I grew up in Armenia in the nineties and we were, you know, everyone was poor. And I think every parent was kind of looking for that thing that their kid could do to get them out. And I think my mom realized like, oh, I think my kids can sing, sing, sing so we can get a visa. So it was, it was like that, you know?

• 5:40Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 5:41Speaker 03

  I know it's so dark, but it's true. That's how it is, you know?

• 5:44Conan O'Brien?

  Sure, of course.

• 5:45Speaker 03

  Um, but jazz, I don't know. My dad was into it. He had a lot of like, kind of semi shady friends during the Soviet Union that would get these like, jazz records that weren't supposed to be in the USSR. So he always had these, you know, random recordings of things. Oftentimes you wouldn't have a cover for it. So you had no idea who was playing it. It was like recorded over a Michael Bolton CD, you know? But people weren't sure if it was Ella or Carmen or who, but it, but it was always to me, it was like, it was the sound of America. It's what America sounded like to me. And I was always drawn to it, even, you know, I didn't speak English when we got here.

• 6:23Conan O'Brien?

  How did you learn to speak English?

• 6:25Speaker 03

  From you.

• 6:26Speaker 01

  No.

• 6:26Conan O'Brien?

  Are you serious?

• 6:27Speaker 03

  And I know that's insane. And the reason why I actually submitted. To this is because I was talking to somebody and I mentioned you and I was like, I learned English pretty much from Conan, Family Guy, and Mr. Rogers.

• 6:41Conan O'Brien?

  That's the trifecta.

• 6:42Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 6:43Conan O'Brien?

  Many times I've seen those three circles intersect.

• 6:48Conan O'Brien?

  It's so funny because this is not the first time. Many times I've had people tell me that, yeah, you were on the internet in my country, or there was a weird channel that mistakenly showed you. And they would learn English from me, which I find kind of horrifying, but I'm also happy. Your English is fantastic, by the way. Perfect.

• 7:06Speaker 03

  Thank you. I mean, I was obsessive about kind of like passing as an American, so I didn't want to have an accent. But I think people don't give enough credit to television, and especially, you know, late night television where that fourth wall isn't there. So you were talking to me, you know? Reading books and all that stuff in school is fine, but it feels like somebody's actually talking to you.

• 7:28Conan O'Brien?

  It's very intimate. It's very intimate. And that makes me very happy. I'm very happy you're in our country. You're clearly very cool and extremely talented. And I wish I could do what you do. I don't know.

• 7:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, but you don't know if I'm any good at it.

• 7:45Conan O'Brien?

  What's that?

• 7:46Speaker 03

  You don't know if I'm any good at it. Don't get me to yourself.

• 7:49Conan O'Brien?

  Sona's raving about you. She says you're terrific. And you know what? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, because you seem like a humble person. You don't seem like a self-promoter. I imagine you're very good at this. I really do. So I'm gonna have Sona get me some of your music and I'll listen to it. But before I do that, I'd like a lesson from you. How would I sing? I just wanna, let's say I wanna, you know, these careers, they come and go. I might need to get into jazz singing late in my life. And this would be the time, and you're the perfect person to, hey, I taught you to speak English. You teach me jazz singing.

• 8:28Speaker 03

  Okay, so I guess the most common, you know, thing people associate with jazz singing is scat singing, right?

• 8:34Conan O'Brien?

  Scat, uh huh.

• 8:35Speaker 03

  Most people are really bad at it, especially singers themselves. But... I think the easiest approach to it is to think like, like if you were drunk at a bar.

• 8:44Conan O'Brien?

  Yep.

• 8:44Speaker 03

  And there's this song you remembered and you wanna remind the guy next to you at the bar like, you know this song, it goes, and how would you sing the melody? That's what scat singing is. You're like just trying to recreate a melody. So.

• 8:55Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 8:56Speaker 03

  Give me like, give me a tune. Give me like a Christmas song.

• 8:58Conan O'Brien?

  Well, it's gotta be something we can clear. Is that right? I'd have to forget what the rules are here.

• 9:01Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 9:02Conan O'Brien?

  We still don't know what the rules are on a song, so it's gotta be something. Maybe we should just do Row, Row, Row Your Boat, because I don't imagine we have to pay any money for that.

• 9:09Speaker 03

  That's fine. That's fine.

• 9:10Conan O'Brien?

  So let's just say it's Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

• 9:12Speaker 03

  So it's.

• 9:13Conan O'Brien?

  So I'm drunk and I'm trying to tell you. Hey, remember how you sing Summer Calm? Come on! Come on, Lucy, it's Row, Row, Row Your Boat. You know that song?

• 9:24Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's the one that goes.

• 9:45Speaker 04

  Sir, you're bothering the other customers and I've been told to eject you.

• 9:50Speaker 01

  We already asked you to leave three times, sir.

• 9:53Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 9:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:58Speaker 03

  It's a.

• 9:59Conan O'Brien?

  How was that? Be honest.

• 10:01Speaker 03

  Okay, you gotta bring it down. Okay, that's a.

• 10:04Conan O'Brien?

  Bring it down?

• 10:05Speaker 03

  That was a lot.

• 10:06Conan O'Brien?

  I'm drunk.

• 10:08Speaker 03

  Well.

• 10:08Conan O'Brien?

  How drunk am I? When I'm drunk, I don't bring it down.

• 10:11Speaker 03

  No, like a mellow kinda drunk.

• 10:13Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, I see. Okay.

• 10:14Speaker 03

  Not like a psychotic Irishman.

• 10:20Speaker 03

  Okay, that's too much.

• 10:22Conan O'Brien?

  Everything I do is wrong.

• 10:23Speaker 03

  No, no, that was good. Now, now go right in between the first one and that one.

• 10:46Speaker 03

  I think it had moments.

• 10:47Conan O'Brien?

  Why are you crying?

• 10:50Conan O'Brien?

  You're crying.

• 10:51Speaker 03

  It had moments.

• 10:53Conan O'Brien?

  And you're hurting yourself with the paper.

• 10:56Speaker 04

  It was built for various moments.

• 10:57Conan O'Brien?

  Why are you stabbing yourself with a paper? A letter opener?

• 11:03Speaker 01

  Oh my god.

• 11:12Conan O'Brien?

  You know, winning an award, that's a big achievement, right?

• 11:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:14Conan O'Brien?

  Every now and then in life, maybe something nice like that comes your way. Winning them consistently is almost impossible. It just doesn't happen, you know? Well, guess what? Winning five times in six years? You know what that sounds like to me? Sustained excellence.

• 11:29Speaker 01

  Nice.

• 11:29Conan O'Brien?

  Hyundai has done just that, earning the title of America's best SUV brand for 2026 from US News and World Report. You are a very happy Hyundai driver.

• 11:38Speaker 01

  I drive a Hyundai Palisade and I love my car. I love it. I love driving it around.

• 11:42Conan O'Brien?

  I've been tooling around in an Ioniq 5N, which I love. Beautiful car. Well, listen, whether you need an SUV for everyday life, your next big adventure, or extra room for family and friends, Hyundai has an option for you. The Tucson Hybrid is loaded with technology and built for everyday life. The Santa Fe Hybrid's fully capable and ready for adventure. The Palisade, that's yours, right?

• 12:01Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 12:02Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna rename that the Sona. The Palisade Hybrid, yeah, delivers premium capability and class-leading interior space. With available, I had this memorized, H-Track all-wheel drive, up to an EPA-estimated 619 miles of range on vehicles like the Palisade Hybrid and Hyundai's industry-leading warranty. It's easy to see why Hyundai continues to deliver the quality, innovation, technology, and value drivers expect from an award-winning brand. View US News Best Cars at cars.usnews.com and call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

• 12:37Conan O'Brien?

  When it comes to insurance, Farmers doesn't like surprises. That's why there's Farmers coverage on a page. What is it, you ask? Did you ask? I don't think you did, but let's pretend you did.

• 12:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, okay, let's...

• 12:48Conan O'Brien?

  It's your coverage on a page, pretty straightforward.

• 12:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 12:52Conan O'Brien?

  That's good, because sometimes it gets confusing, you know? What am I covered for? What am I not? Here, it's all on a page. Does your insurance do that? Get a quote to get started at Farmers.com. Don't be confused, don't wonder. Farmers makes it pretty clear. Underwritten by Farmers Truck or Fire Insurance Exchanges or affiliate. Products not available in every state.

• 13:14Conan O'Brien?

  Did you know that one in four Americans targeted by scams end up falling for them?

• 13:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:19Conan O'Brien?

  You fell for it.

• 13:19Speaker 01

  I fell for a scam.

• 13:20Conan O'Brien?

  Now, you didn't lose too much money, but you did lose.

• 13:23Speaker 01

  I did lose, and it was very inconvenient, and now they put protections on my account like I'm, uh, dumb.

• 13:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I don't know where they got that impression.

• 13:33Conan O'Brien?

  Criminals are now using AI to make scams look more realistic than ever. In 2025, AI fraud spiked 1,210% and cost Americans $893 million. That's incredible. Well, with AI, it can get so smart now.

• 13:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:50Conan O'Brien?

  Do you know what I mean?

• 13:50Speaker 01

  Maybe I should start scamming.

• 13:52Conan O'Brien?

  No, that's not the point.

• 13:53Speaker 01

  Oh, no, that's not the point of this.

• 13:54Conan O'Brien?

  That's not the point.

• 13:54Speaker 01

  It's so much money.

• 13:55Conan O'Brien?

  One accidental click, Sona, can expose your information, putting you at risk of identity theft. Luckily, this is the point. Not that you should start scamming, but that everyone should get LifeLock.

• 14:05Speaker 01

  Right, right, right, right, right.

• 14:06Conan O'Brien?

  LifeLock has live US-based restoration specialists who will be with you every step of the way to fix your identity theft from first alert to full restoration. This is fantastic. How do you not have this?

• 14:17Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 14:17Conan O'Brien?

  If you have expenses or money stolen due to identity theft, you're backed by the million-dollar protection package with up to $3 million coverage in some plans. Join now and save up to 30% off your first year. Go to lifelock.com/conan. That's lifelock.com/conan to save 30%. Terms apply.

• 14:36Conan O'Brien?

  With the US Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card, you earn an unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase. Huh, it's a good deal.

• 14:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:44Conan O'Brien?

  No quarterly activations, no categories to track, just unlimited 2% cash back on every purchase. Sona, just the other day, I bought you this antique wig stand.

• 14:54Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 14:55Conan O'Brien?

  And I didn't get cash back, and I regret it now.

• 14:58Speaker 01

  Oh, okay. Well, that's a very thoughtful gift.

• 15:01Conan O'Brien?

  Do you wear a wig, or is that your hair?

• 15:02Speaker 01

  Absolutely not. It's definitely my hair. And so it's kind of, it's kind of insulting you would buy that gift for me.

• 15:08Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I'll just return it anyway, but I do wish I got cash back.

• 15:11Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:12Conan O'Brien?

  Visit usbank.com/smartlycard to learn more. The creditor and issuer of this card is US Bank National Association pursuant to a license from Visa USA, Inc. Some restrictions may apply.

• 15:29Conan O'Brien?

  What's your favorite kind of songs? What are the themes of your favorite songs? Thematically, you know, what do you like?

• 15:34Speaker 03

  I used to avoid singing blueses. I thought I was too young and I didn't get it. But I really enjoy singing a blues and especially, you know, like, old blueses that are about terrible, terrible men. I like those. I like those. But I don't do it to like, I don't like divisive music. I don't do it to mock the gents. I guess I mock them for a moment and then... But I like to point out the elephant in the room and then we can all kind of like laugh at it and move forward together.

• 16:02Conan O'Brien?

  I think, speaking as a gent, I think a lot of us need ridiculing. And, you know, we should be able to take it. Now, I don't mean me specifically. I can't handle it. And I'm never to be criticized in any way, in song or prose. But, yeah.

• 16:21Speaker 03

  I actually think people take it well when it's with a sprinkling of humor and in the arts. You know what I mean? It's hard to have those conversations. But I think when you're singing it, I can sing a lot of things that I can't say to people, to their face.

• 16:34Conan O'Brien?

  Well, you know, it's funny you say that. I come from a fairly repressed culture where you don't say something. If I'm unhappy with someone, I don't tell them. I keep it locked inside and I resent. And I learned many, many years ago that I can make these sort of passive aggressive jokes where they're laughing, but I think maybe 20 minutes after I've left, they notice, hey, wait a minute. I think he doesn't want me to take the last slice of cake anymore. And, because he just sang to me a song, which I enjoyed, about assholes who take the last piece of cake. So, I mean, Sona, you've seen me. I'm the maestro, yes?

• 17:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, if there's a genre of music that's just being passive aggressive, Conan would be the number one artist, I think. Because you're creative.

• 17:27Conan O'Brien?

  I'd be Pavarotti.

• 17:28Speaker 01

  You would, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the passive aggressive genre.

• 17:32Speaker 03

  Then you'd make a good jazz singer. There's plenty of that in the American songbook. But you're absolutely right. I've actually found that, my husband's a saxophone player, and whenever he's on stage, I'll say things to him on stage, just banter in between that I would never say to him off. But it like releases the tension. And then we get off and we're good.

• 17:51Speaker 04

  Like you need to do the dishes and things like that?

• 17:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 17:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, he's in the middle of a solo and you say, "Ha ha, you're a terrible lover." Anyway.

• 18:02Speaker 03

  I'm gonna try that.

• 18:03Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, try that. Guys love that, especially when they're onstage.

• 18:12Conan O'Brien?

  So, I'm curious, famously, to try and sing jazz, you talked about tough times. Was there a moment that was just the lowest for you, where you had no money? You didn't know what to do? And you had to take a drastic step?

• 18:30Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, when I first moved to New York, I was working as a tour guide at Madison Square Garden.

• 18:37Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, that's some great tour.

• 18:39Speaker 03

  Yeah, it was rough. Actually, I got fired.

• 18:42Conan O'Brien?

  To your left is a hobo. Over there is a puddle of urine.

• 18:49Conan O'Brien?

  Sorry.

• 18:51Speaker 03

  I got fired because I used to tell them that there used to be a beautiful train station there, and they tore it down to build this, and they didn't like that.

• 18:58Conan O'Brien?

  Torn down so they could put up that monstrosity.

• 19:01Speaker 03

  Yeah, they didn't like that, so I got fired. But right around that time, I couldn't pay rent, and I had just no money. And I had this horrible toothache once. And I went in, and they were like, "It's this big, long thing, we gotta do it." And I said, "I don't have money." And they said, "Well, we can just pull it out." And I didn't have money for that either. And I ended up selling an old mandolin I had to get the tooth pulled out. This is like an Oh, Henry story.

• 19:27Conan O'Brien?

  No, I was just thinking, did you ever think of taking the mandolin and using it to smash the tooth out?

• 19:34Speaker 03

  It would've been a cheaper option.

• 19:35Conan O'Brien?

  That's a good twist to the story. "All I have is this mandolin to get my tooth out." Wait a minute, and then you smash it out. But then, the mandolin breaks, and you've damaged the tooth only more, and you have no mandolin. And that's the end of the story, and it's called shitty story.

• 19:51Speaker 03

  It sure is.

• 19:59Conan O'Brien?

  I'm gonna write a whole book of those, where it's just got that kind of twist ending, and it sucks.

• 20:03Speaker 03

  Conan O'Brien's shitty stories. It just doesn't resolve, leaves nowhere, yeah.

• 20:07Conan O'Brien?

  She knew then that she had to smash the tooth out with her own mandolin. She did it, it ruined both things, and then she was even worse off.

• 20:14Speaker 03

  Actually...

• 20:15Conan O'Brien?

  Next chapter.

• 20:16Speaker 03

  Right after that, I did this big competition that tends to be like the big break for a lot of jazz musicians, called the Monk Competition, and I lost. So that was really the cherry on top, so.

• 20:25Speaker 01

  Oh, boy.

• 20:27Conan O'Brien?

  Well, it's because your mouth was bleeding and you were playing a broken mandolin.

• 20:32Conan O'Brien?

  Just blood shooting out your mouth, your head swollen, and you're playing a mandolin that's in three pieces.

• 20:39Speaker 03

  Outside of Madison Square Garden.

• 20:41Conan O'Brien?

  Exactly, yeah. And a hobo's like, "I like it."

• 20:48Conan O'Brien?

  That's so, I mean, I think you're a very impressive person. I have enormous respect for immigrants. I think people don't understand that you're, you know, most Americans are born into a language they never have to, and they never have to switch. And when people are born into one language and one culture, and then they have to remake themselves, as you have done, to speak a completely different language, and I know there are many immigrants that speak three languages, it takes an amount of grit and courage that's awe-inspiring. It really is. And you've, you know, you've, you're just a very impressive person. I think it's so cool.

• 21:33Speaker 03

  Thank you, thank you. I agree as far as immigrating. It's a strange thing to do.

• 21:39Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 21:40Speaker 03

  It's a hard thing to do.

• 21:40Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, Sona, to learn English when you were in your late twenties.

• 21:46Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 21:47Conan O'Brien?

  When I met Sona,

• 21:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:48Conan O'Brien?

  she did not speak a word of English, and I hired her as my assistant. And remember when I painted the alphabet?

• 21:57Speaker 01

  Do I remember when I didn't speak English in my late twenties? Is that what you're asking?

• 22:00Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 22:01Speaker 01

  Okay. Is this the story where you said, "I jumped out of a bush," and then you're like, "I'll domesticate you and teach you English," or is this the one where I floated to this country in a basket?

• 22:11Conan O'Brien?

  They're one story.

• 22:13Speaker 01

  They are one story?

• 22:14Conan O'Brien?

  Your dad was being attacked by goats.

• 22:16Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 22:17Conan O'Brien?

  He put you into a, he quickly made a small boat. Out of Thatch, Thatch and Leaves, and he floated across from the island of Armenia over to Los Angeles. I was walking along in search of an assistant. You had, like Superman, grown to maturity in the boat. It took a long time.

• 22:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:36Conan O'Brien?

  And then you, you saw what you thought was a redheaded woman walking down the street, and you jumped out and said, "Barev!" And I said, "Oh, my God." And remember? And then I taught you everything you needed to know to become one of the most important people in America.

• 22:52Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you. I'm so indebted to you. Are you as offended as I am that he said that I floated off the island of Armenia, Lucy? I mean, it's very landlocked.

• 23:02Conan O'Brien?

  That's not offensive.

• 23:02Speaker 01

  It's landlocked. There is no body of water around it.

• 23:05Conan O'Brien?

  No, you haven't been there in a while. There's a piece that broke off.

• 23:11Speaker 01

  Oh, God.

• 23:11Conan O'Brien?

  Just Google it, Sona. Google it.

• 23:14Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 23:16Conan O'Brien?

  Anyway, as you can see, Lucy, I'm a very ignorant man, a very foolish man. And you are a very talented artist, a very beautiful person, and you decided to spend time with me.

• 23:32Conan O'Brien?

  So this is on you. And now, my scatting career begins.

• 23:38Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 23:39Conan O'Brien?

  But I am, I'm gonna have Sona get me your work, because I really want to listen to it.

• 23:43Speaker 03

  Yeah, please. I also have a show at the Alex on February 13th. You're more than welcome to.

• 23:47Conan O'Brien?

  Where is that? In Glendale?

• 23:48Speaker 01

  In Glendale. Yeah.

• 23:50Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 23:51Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, maybe we can come see you.

• 23:52Speaker 03

  Yeah, I mean, it's an easy Valentine's Day if you don't have any ideas. You know what I'm saying?

• 23:57Speaker 01

  I'll be there.

• 23:57Conan O'Brien?

  I don't have a date.

• 23:58Speaker 03

  I would love that.

• 23:59Conan O'Brien?

  My wife will not speak to me on Valentine's Day. She says, "Don't even think about it."

• 24:05Speaker 01

  She's busy with her boyfriend.

• 24:08Conan O'Brien?

  Man, that guy's a looker.

• 24:12Conan O'Brien?

  I think that guy. Thank you. Okay, Lucy, you just ruined it. Now it's not believable.

• 24:20Conan O'Brien?

  Well, Lucy, thank you so much for reaching out to us. I do get, I get great energy talking to people like you. Very positive, very talented. And you've, you've given me a lift, and you're really funny. So thank you very much.

• 24:36Speaker 03

  Thank you. Thank you for teaching me English, Conan, even though you didn't mean to.

• 24:40Conan O'Brien?

  And Sona, don't you want to thank me, too?

• 24:43Speaker 01

  No, I'm okay. I'm good. Thank you. No, no, I mean, no, thank you. I'm good. Ah, shit. Okay.

• 24:51Conan O'Brien?

  All right, well, you take care.

• 24:53Speaker 03

  Thank you. You guys too.

• 24:54Conan O'Brien?

  Bye bye.

• 24:54Speaker 03

  Happy holidays. Bye Lucy. Bye Sonah.

• 24:59Speaker 04

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

• 25:16Speaker 04

  Supervising producer Aaron Blair. Associate talent producer Jennifer Samples. Associate producers Sean Dougherty and Lisa Berman. 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.

• 25:45Speaker 05

  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. Grab flavor for everyone in your group. Grab music, laughter and moments you'll never forget. You'll never regret it.

• 26:05Speaker 02

  Oh, hey, man.

• 26:06Speaker 05

  Grab new friends, grab old friends, grab life. By the glow, White Claw. Please drink responsibly. White Claw Seltzer, work Chicago, Illinois.

• 26:16Conan O'Brien?

  When you hear Alka Seltzer, you probably think heartburn, right?

• 26:19Speaker 05

  Yep.

• 26:20Conan O'Brien?

  Well, did you know Alka Seltzer has a line of cold and flu medications known as Alka Seltzer Cold? Did you know that David?

• 26:27Speaker 05

  No, but I feel like we need it.

• 26:28Conan O'Brien?

  Why didn't you know that David?

• 26:29Speaker 05

  I know you expect me to know everything.

• 26:31Conan O'Brien?

  I knew this because I, yeah, I've tried it. It's really good. And I like that fizzy, fizzy, fizzy when you drop the Alka Seltzer Cold into the water. Alka Seltzer Cold, fast dissolves tablets are designed to deliver cold and flu relief fast. Just drop the two tablets in water and hear those bubbles bursting into action, ready to work faster than pills. Bubbles faster than pills. Pills take time to dissolve, not bubbles. Next time a cold or flu strikes, quick! Alka Seltzer Cold, nothing works faster for cold and flu symptom relief. Among oral products used as directed.