Conan@Google

May 11, 2010 10:24 AM

Conan@Google A 45 minute Q&A session Conan O'Brien at Google HQ. If thought the 60 minutes interview (previously) wasn't funny enough, this is definitely for you.
posted by delmoi (67 comments total)

_{(Note: you can skip the introductory 55 seconds or so)}
posted by delmoi at 10:26 AM on May 11, 2010

Conan quickly realizes that he needs to take over the show to make it any good, and he does so (with the help of andy richter). I love how the Google host guy just doesn't get it, and runs off to find himself another chair when his is appropriated.
posted by cubby at 10:31 AM on May 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

Google needs a new sound guy.
posted by schmod at 10:32 AM on May 11, 2010

Indeed, probably you skip as instructed. In the first two minutes he insults the musical intro, his host, and the audience.

I stopped watching after that.
posted by IndigoJones at 10:32 AM on May 11, 2010

Indeed, probably you skip as instructed.

I have no idea what you just said.
posted by found missing at 10:34 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

Indeed, probably you skip as instructed. In the first two minutes he insults the musical intro, his host, and the audience.

I stopped watching after that.

So basically what you're saying is that you don't like comedy.
posted by mightygodking at 10:38 AM on May 11, 2010 [9 favorites]

While it's funny in parts, I also found it to be really awkward to watch, and Conan's jokes to be rather aggressive. You can really tell how disproportionate Conan's ego is in this interview. It's gotta be at least 2 feet larger than normal.
posted by tybeet at 10:40 AM on May 11, 2010

The host was awful; he wasn't comfortable when he didn't have something scripted to say and it was draining on the whole thing.

Conan was almost begging him to just let loose a little bit but he was just so, so lame. Why he was chosen to do that is beyond me, especially considering it ended up a public thing.
posted by Hiker at 10:56 AM on May 11, 2010

This is clearly a person who's had a way too easy ride in show business. The reaction he had to a simple business decision was- and still is- staggeringly immature. And then to seek validation from the internet nerds with their naive anti-Leno/"I'm With Coco" bullshit (which only proves how little these people know about how the TV business works) just makes him pathetic.
posted by L'OM at 10:56 AM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

I like comedy fine. What I don’t like are cheap shots at the defenseless and inoffensive. If you want to use funny as a weapon, pick a worthy target. Sarcasm is a lazy, nasty, and unattractive substitute for wit.

(My apologies to Found Missing for fat thumbing. Of course what I meant to say was that probably you should skip the first 55 seconds, or two minutes, as directed by Delmoi)
posted by IndigoJones at 10:56 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

You can really tell how disproportionate Conan's ego is in this interview. It's gotta be at least 2 feet larger than normal.

Well, the web adds at least a foot to any ego.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:58 AM on May 11, 2010

Yes, yes. Poor defenseless Google.
posted by emelenjr at 11:00 AM on May 11, 2010 [5 favorites]

While it's funny in parts, I also found it to be really awkward to watch, and Conan's jokes to be rather aggressive.

Actually I found that funnier then what I remember from his show (I usually watch the dailyshow/colbert, but I used to watch him back in the day). And also, he's not making fun of some powerless subject, but Google, an organization which, for all the good it does, is not short on ego.

Besides, it wasn't that bad.
posted by delmoi at 11:01 AM on May 11, 2010

Please.
He got a $32 million bonus, another show in the offing and possibly got out of a declining business model. I really can't understand what he's complaining about.
posted by Lucubrator at 11:03 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I liked it.

It's unfortunate that every mention of Ludacris was subtitled as "ludicrous," but, hey.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:03 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

um. Not bonus, settlement for losing the job.
posted by Lucubrator at 11:03 AM on May 11, 2010

I really can't understand what he's complaining about.

Well, for one thing, there were a lot of people who relocated from New York to LA to work on his show who were left in the lurch. Because of compromises he made during contract negotiations specifically to get those people dime one, Conan is prohibited from making any specific complaints about NBC. Anyone claiming Conan is whining is not paying attention.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:11 AM on May 11, 2010 [7 favorites]

he's not making fun of some powerless subject, but Google,.

In the first two minutes, he was mocked an anonymous musician ill placed to answer back, a dweeby host ill placed to answer back, and an entire audience ill placed to answer back. None of these people put themselves forward as targets for ridicule.

Maybe he made generic google jokes later on, but as I say, I didn't wait to listen.
posted by IndigoJones at 11:14 AM on May 11, 2010

(drop the "was"- not doing too well with preview today, alas.)
posted by IndigoJones at 11:15 AM on May 11, 2010

Please. If you're suggesting an introductory bagpiper is not worthy of ridicule...
posted by Sys Rq at 11:16 AM on May 11, 2010 [17 favorites]

mocked an anonymous musician

What happens when you randomly put a bagpiper before a comedian?
posted by yeti at 11:19 AM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Please. If you're suggesting an introductory bagpiper is not worthy of ridicule...

Ok, we can wrap up the universe now...the funniest thing that could possibly ever be said was just said. Sys Rq wins.
posted by spicynuts at 11:19 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

oh christ you guys are fucking nerds, lighten up.
posted by empath at 11:23 AM on May 11, 2010 [13 favorites]

Hey, nerds are sexy. Of course we're fucking them.
posted by ook at 11:25 AM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

ERROR. Your human "humor" is illogical and does not compute. "beep beep boop*
posted by entropicamericana at 11:31 AM on May 11, 2010 [7 favorites]

This weird anti-Conan backlash is frustrating. The guy says this is the best thing that's ever happened to him. Seriously, he's happy. And he's funny. He's funny, and he's happy, and everyone wins.

The only negative reaction I had to the whole thing is that when I went full-screen on the video, Google took over my computer and wouldn't let me out no matter what I did. ::shakes fist at Google::
posted by brina at 11:32 AM on May 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

IndigoJones: "In the first two minutes, he was mocked an anonymous musician ill placed to answer back"

I'm fairly certain the bagpiper is part of Conan's road show and is on the joke of being mocked, unless you think Google can conjure up bagpipers on a random Tuesday afternoon for a 20 second intro. Although it is Google, so maybe that was another company they bought.
posted by sharkfu at 11:37 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

As a Googler (or as Conan suggests, a "G man"), I can say this was better received internally than people seem to think. Everyone I talked to thought it was pretty funny, I don't think anyone's feelings were hurt or anything.
posted by wildcrdj at 11:38 AM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

Comedians doing corporate talks usually strike a "roast the host" pose. Teasing Google was part and parcel of why they got him. It's supposed to push corporate boundaries and make them all feel cool and non-corporate.
posted by fatbird at 11:58 AM on May 11, 2010 [6 favorites]

Bing's feelings were hurt.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:58 AM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

That was fun. Thanks for posting this. Although whenever I read or hear something about the Tonight Show these days, I realize how much I miss Johnny Carson.

*sniff*
posted by brundlefly at 12:10 PM on May 11, 2010

Christ, what a prick. I love pricks.
posted by nola at 12:16 PM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

The reaction he had to a simple business decision was- and still is- staggeringly immature.

Wh---wha....er...

He got bumped from THE TONIGHT SHOW, after he (like any talk show host/comedian aspiring to be a talk show host) negotiated for years and years and years and years for a chance to get. The Tonight Show is/was the ultimate "get", to get Johnny Carson's chair. And then he gets it ripped from him, let alone replaced by Jay's Dorito Munchin Ass?

I'm assuming you're just not familiar with the stakes involved with the legend of that show, if you're willing to dismiss the dismissal as a "simple business decision."
posted by cavalier at 12:21 PM on May 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

Once Carson was done, it was just another show.
posted by smackfu at 12:34 PM on May 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

Aw, a funny guy made fun of Google and everybody there laughed with him. How terrible.

Also, his constant complaining, always saying, "this is the best thing to ever happen," is really irritating. Somebody needs to tell him to get positive.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:38 PM on May 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

It is funny to see people complaining about Conan being abusive, when that's what they're paying him to do -- he's performing, for fuck's sake. Off the stage, he's apparently a very nice guy who's gracious, grateful and has gone to great lengths to get his people (the staff he brought from New York and hired locally) taken care of. Do so many people assume that actors/performers are the same way on and off stage? If so, I'm amazed by that.

Also: call him tall, awkward and geeky, but next to real computer geeks, he's positively suave. Hilarious.

incidentally, according to Jay Leno, he has never spent his television money -- he only spends his money from comedy tours and personal appearances like the one Conan is doing here. dunno if that's actually true, but as you watch Conan perform for Google, ask yourself: would you rather be watching him, or watching Jay Leno talking to the same group?
posted by davejay at 12:46 PM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

In defense of the host, sharing the stage with a six foot four, immensely famous, bitingly sharp and sarcastic comedian is a tough gig.
posted by snoktruix at 12:52 PM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

I think the "mocking" was a result of this weird, awkward forum. Start out with bagpipes, add a host who didn't really know what he was doing (but that's ok), and the craziness of Conan's past few months (he's probably sick of everyone asking about The Tonight Show) and you get Conan trying to defuse the situation by pointing out how artificial it was and poking fun at people.
Conan usually likes being the center of attention but I'm sure he'd rather just be chilling out with some engineers in the cafeteria.
posted by starman at 12:57 PM on May 11, 2010

I mean, I'm sure the guy hosting it was some big shot google muckity muck and his underlings appreciated him being taken down a notch.
posted by empath at 12:57 PM on May 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

I'm sure the guy hosting it was some big shot google muckity muck and his underlings appreciated him being taken down a notch.
posted by GuyZero at 1:14 PM on May 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

The host was just swallowed up by the whole thing. Once Richter got on stage, Vic just sat there in the gullet of the comedy beast, quivering every time another comedy gem further derailed the structure of the show.

This all goes back to Google's enhanced role-awareness of late. It's quickly getting its bearings in the world and learning that it is more along the lines of a replacement for AT&T than anything remotely cool-looking when it sits next to Mr. O'Brien.

Bagpipes, really. That's all you have to say, isn't it?
posted by circular at 1:33 PM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

In defense of the host, sharing the stage with a six foot four, immensely famous, bitingly sharp and sarcastic comedian is a tough gig.

I agree completely, although I do think that he made a mistake in trying to be funny. He seemed to be doing the best when he played/was the straight guy, as it gave Conan something to play off and also meant that the host didn't actually have to do much.

But of course, I say this with the benefit of being someone who's never been in front of an audience of my peers stood next to a famous and successful comedian.
posted by djgh at 1:50 PM on May 11, 2010

I agree completely, although I do think that he made a mistake in trying to be funny. He seemed to be doing the best when he played/was the straight guy, as it gave Conan something to play off and also meant that the host didn't actually have to do much.

There really needs to be a primer for people who interview Conan or go on Colbert or whatever. "Look, some people can hold their own and be funny. Not you. You'll look terrible. Just let him make fun of you and laugh. They'll make you look golden."
posted by Solon and Thanks at 2:17 PM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

What it comes down to is it would have been far more successful to have done a straight Q&A, without a host. I was expecting him to do an introduction and then just leave Conan to it.

I have always had a problem with Conan for his sillier stuff, which just doesn't do it for me. The bits of that where he was throwing in four more gags than necessary to make up for the presenter it was starting to feel a bit like watching Robin Williams or something. It's like, just let up on the wackiness, cause I find him to be clearly a really funny and interesting guy the rest of the time. It's what always put me off his late night show, at which point I guess essentially - he's just not for me, as it seems to be what he wants to do.
posted by opsin at 2:28 PM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

I agree completely, although I do think that he made a mistake in trying to be funny. He seemed to be doing the best when he played/was the straight guy...

That's rule #1 when you're hosting an event like this: be polite, don't talk too much, and don't try to take focus away from the performer.
posted by davejay at 2:44 PM on May 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

i'm sorry, i watched 10 minutes, where is the funny stuff exactly ?
posted by Substrata at 3:00 PM on May 11, 2010

The giant ball of hair bit was pretty damn funny.
posted by cj_ at 3:03 PM on May 11, 2010

Conan doing a Dalek voice about toilets was not something I expected to see today.
posted by The Whelk at 3:54 PM on May 11, 2010

i'm sorry, i watched 10 minutes, where is the funny stuff exactly ?

No idea, I barely made it past 5.
posted by Anything at 3:58 PM on May 11, 2010

Oh yeah well I only watched three point eight seconds and didn't find it funny at all so there
posted by ook at 4:22 PM on May 11, 2010 [9 favorites]

As a Googler (or as Conan suggests, a "G man"), I can say this was better received internally than people seem to think.

As a Yahoo, I can say that we were laughing at the whole thing, including the joke at Y!'s expense.

and as the Googlers and the Yahoos laughed, the Softies quietly schemed and plotted and planned to devour us all
posted by davejay at 4:56 PM on May 11, 2010

I cringed at 9:26. Where the hell did they get this guy? Why is he a host?

Vic Gundotra...is Vice-President of Engineering for Google and was previously a general manager at Microsoft.

Ah.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 5:12 PM on May 11, 2010

I'm sensing that not enough people watched this until the 23 minute mark where he lets an employee indulge her life-long fantasy of wildly rubbing his hair. If that doesn't make you smile just a little bit then you should reevaluate whether you are dead inside or not.
posted by windbox at 5:36 PM on May 11, 2010 [3 favorites]

Conan just doesn't have the depth or weight. Colbert at Harvard puts this to shame.
posted by phaedon at 5:45 PM on May 11, 2010

Watched the whole thing. That was terrific.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 5:52 PM on May 11, 2010

Hated it! Zero snaps.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:30 PM on May 11, 2010

I agree with opsin's take. It seems to me that even after 15 years of experience, Conan's place in comedy belongs in front of a keyboard. I don't doubt his wit or his comedic intelligence, and the stuff of his I've enjoyed the most has been his more "writerly" performances -- like his truly hilarious commencement addresses, or forewards to comedy books.

As a performer, he just is too over-the-top for me, and he can't help himself from going into extreme wacky mode.

As for Andy Richter, I've never understood how he got on television.
posted by Philemon at 7:32 PM on May 11, 2010

Ugh, that was painful to watch.
posted by halogen at 9:10 PM on May 11, 2010

Wow. I was laughing the whole way through, and so, apparently, was the audience. Tough room, this one painted blue.
posted by dhartung at 9:29 PM on May 11, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm sure the guy hosting it was some big shot google muckity muck and his underlings appreciated him being taken down a notch.

Yeah, that was my take too. I work in the day-to-day work environment that Google has fostered, and can definitely vouch that there's an unhealthy phenomenon of the jovial and apparently nerdy/nebbish executive who is actually quite cutthroat behind the scenes. My reading is that Conan picked up on this dynamic pretty quickly and gave the "host" an especially hard time because of it (which is precisely the kind of thing really good comics are able to do).
posted by treepour at 10:21 PM on May 11, 2010 [4 favorites]

It's time like these I cannot help but wish for FrankieBoyle@Google instead.
posted by numberstation at 2:29 AM on May 12, 2010

Jerry Sadowitz would be better than Frankie Boyle. At least he has card tricks to fall back on when they can understand him swearing.
posted by vbfg at 3:18 AM on May 12, 2010

Well, for one thing, there were a lot of people who relocated from New York to LA to work on his show who were left in the lurch. Because of compromises he made during contract negotiations specifically to get those people dime one, Conan is prohibited from making any specific complaints about NBC. Anyone claiming Conan is whining is not paying attention.

No - anyone who believes he's not whining doesn't know anything about the business.

This is what TV is. You get a show, you rearrange your life- and if you fail, too bad. He acts like this is the first time this had ever happened.
posted by L'OM at 9:40 AM on May 12, 2010

This is what TV is. You get a show, you rearrange your life- and if you fail, too bad. He acts like this is the first time this had ever happened.

Well, it probably is the first time it's happened to him. Especially given the fact that he worked for NBC for years, and had been waiting for the tonight show for five years, etc.

Anyway, I don't really see what the problem is. he's unhappy. Should he pretend to be happy, or what? I'm not going to feel sorry for him, but I don't see why he shouldn't include this in his comedy. It's funny.
posted by delmoi at 11:53 AM on May 12, 2010

See this would be good, if it were with the real Conan - Conan the Cimmerian.
posted by newdaddy at 7:23 PM on May 12, 2010

Finally got around to watching it and holy shit that was funny!

Thanks, delmoi.
posted by P.o.B. at 2:26 AM on May 13, 2010

Absolutely hilarious. This is Conan at his best.

And that "host" was just preposterous; you can't fake cluelessness like that. Conan should hire him for his TBS show. Comedic gold.
posted by i_have_a_computer at 3:43 PM on May 13, 2010