“I don’t fear your wings, man.”
April 13, 2024 1:59 PM Subscribe
Conan O’Brien Needs a Doctor While Eating Spicy Wings is the season 23 finale of Hot Ones [previously], where Sean Evans asks Conan O’Brien questions while they eat chicken wings with increasingly spicy hot sauce. It goes off the rails pretty quickly.
Watched this the other day and he really, really, really committed to the bit.
posted by drewbage1847 at 2:21 PM on April 13 [14 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 2:21 PM on April 13 [14 favorites]
Legendary. They may as well end the show now, because that will never be topped.
posted by Optamystic at 2:32 PM on April 13 [14 favorites]
posted by Optamystic at 2:32 PM on April 13 [14 favorites]
Yeah, I got bored of this show a few years ago but this was probably the best one. Very funny.
posted by chococat at 2:34 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
posted by chococat at 2:34 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
Conan takes comedy seriously, which sounds like an oxymoron but really isn't. Not everyone gets it, but for those who do there's no one like him.
posted by tommasz at 2:48 PM on April 13 [13 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 2:48 PM on April 13 [13 favorites]
I literally have watched every episode, and this is the funniest, best one.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:50 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:50 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
There have been some great Hot Ones episodes but Conan seriously took it to a whole other level.
posted by tclark at 2:53 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
posted by tclark at 2:53 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
The way Sean glowed when Conan commended him as an interviewer 🥹
posted by armeowda at 3:26 PM on April 13 [8 favorites]
posted by armeowda at 3:26 PM on April 13 [8 favorites]
"I have a show. It's on Max. They used to call it HBO, but people found that too popular."
posted by box at 3:40 PM on April 13 [20 favorites]
posted by box at 3:40 PM on April 13 [20 favorites]
Since watching this the other day I keep thinking about how there's probably some non-trivial subset of previous guests who went in thinking or at least hoping they were going to pull something like this--not the bit with the fake doctor, but the bit about going ham on the later wings. Pouring extra Da Bomb over everything and devouring it all, drinking straight from the bottles, powering through the pain for the sake of the bit--and then were humbled by just how hot some of the sauces actually were and found themselves barely holding it together just doing the basic interview.
Many have managed to power through that one bite of Da Bomb. A handful have stoically kept their composure through all ten wings (mostly actresses, I notice, which is no surprise given that most of them have probably had to smile through much worse in order to keep their careers). But Conan really did the thing. And he did it without disrespecting the show or its conceit, by keeping it silly and not macho. It was really well done.
posted by lampoil at 4:09 PM on April 13 [19 favorites]
Many have managed to power through that one bite of Da Bomb. A handful have stoically kept their composure through all ten wings (mostly actresses, I notice, which is no surprise given that most of them have probably had to smile through much worse in order to keep their careers). But Conan really did the thing. And he did it without disrespecting the show or its conceit, by keeping it silly and not macho. It was really well done.
posted by lampoil at 4:09 PM on April 13 [19 favorites]
Conan takes comedy seriously, which sounds like an oxymoron but really isn't.
He does a whole bit on this towards the end of the episode. After having the hottest sauce on the list, visibly red, Sean asks him something along the lines of "What should people who want to get into comedy read?" or something like that, and Conan goes into an unfiltered "Read Homer, read Mad magazine, go high, go low" schpiel. It's great.
posted by billjings at 4:30 PM on April 13 [8 favorites]
He does a whole bit on this towards the end of the episode. After having the hottest sauce on the list, visibly red, Sean asks him something along the lines of "What should people who want to get into comedy read?" or something like that, and Conan goes into an unfiltered "Read Homer, read Mad magazine, go high, go low" schpiel. It's great.
posted by billjings at 4:30 PM on April 13 [8 favorites]
The Paley Center for Media interviewed Conan just a couple of days ago. Their interview was after he filmed the Hot Ones interview and he talks about it for a few minutes (sorry I don't recall exactly when - I think that it's toward the end).
posted by ElKevbo at 4:41 PM on April 13 [4 favorites]
posted by ElKevbo at 4:41 PM on April 13 [4 favorites]
I literally laughed so hard I peed a little.
posted by PistachioRoux at 4:46 PM on April 13 [3 favorites]
posted by PistachioRoux at 4:46 PM on April 13 [3 favorites]
So, yeah, Conan's appearance was a masterwork what to do on Hot Ones. We watched it tonight, and it was just hilarious.
In Season 22, I went "wow, there are a whole lot of sauces that actually look good here." I actually ordered the set from Heatonist, and played a sort of old, deranged Sean Evans subjecting a few people I knew to this Hot Ones set that I bought, in the Hot Ones fashion (from least hot to most). It was weirdly worth it! Nobody hates me! (Uh, due to Hot Ones.)
That being said, having been through the entire season 22 set a few times (!), I don't think Conan over-did "Da Bomb", which is certainly the "spoiler" of the set. I think he did his research, and engaged with it gamely, but not excessively, as he did with other sauces.
"Da Bomb" is truly unpleasant. It's a rough, weird, kind of bad lingering heat that is not at all the same as the other sauces. Even those technically hotter sauces that come up in the 9th and 10th place later in the show don't feel as bad as "Da Bomb" even if they're hotter. I would never use "Da Bomb" on real food, where all of the other sauces from Season 22 I would, conditionally. "Da Bomb" is there to knock people off their mark. It's tough, even if the Scoville ranking is technically lower than the later sauces.
So, yeah, the sauces Conan was, uh, saucing around, were not "Da Bomb". He tried it, and he did it, but that's not the one he was extravagantly saucing about with.
I loved how he was able to channel the heat of the sauces into manic, smart comic energy. I wish I had that kind of energy in me! Just wonderful.
posted by eschatfische at 4:57 PM on April 13 [6 favorites]
In Season 22, I went "wow, there are a whole lot of sauces that actually look good here." I actually ordered the set from Heatonist, and played a sort of old, deranged Sean Evans subjecting a few people I knew to this Hot Ones set that I bought, in the Hot Ones fashion (from least hot to most). It was weirdly worth it! Nobody hates me! (Uh, due to Hot Ones.)
That being said, having been through the entire season 22 set a few times (!), I don't think Conan over-did "Da Bomb", which is certainly the "spoiler" of the set. I think he did his research, and engaged with it gamely, but not excessively, as he did with other sauces.
"Da Bomb" is truly unpleasant. It's a rough, weird, kind of bad lingering heat that is not at all the same as the other sauces. Even those technically hotter sauces that come up in the 9th and 10th place later in the show don't feel as bad as "Da Bomb" even if they're hotter. I would never use "Da Bomb" on real food, where all of the other sauces from Season 22 I would, conditionally. "Da Bomb" is there to knock people off their mark. It's tough, even if the Scoville ranking is technically lower than the later sauces.
So, yeah, the sauces Conan was, uh, saucing around, were not "Da Bomb". He tried it, and he did it, but that's not the one he was extravagantly saucing about with.
I loved how he was able to channel the heat of the sauces into manic, smart comic energy. I wish I had that kind of energy in me! Just wonderful.
posted by eschatfische at 4:57 PM on April 13 [6 favorites]
The way he handles the sauce throughout is funny, but somehow it's the bones in the pocket that really get me.
posted by papayaninja at 5:04 PM on April 13 [6 favorites]
posted by papayaninja at 5:04 PM on April 13 [6 favorites]
Conan goes into an unfiltered "Read Homer, read Mad magazine, go high, go low" schpiel.
At some point during this surprisingly cogent rant, he knocks over the bottle of the Da Bomb, and it is dutifully gurgling out of the bottle the whole time that he is talking. It's chef's kiss perfect.
posted by ishmael at 5:11 PM on April 13 [7 favorites]
At some point during this surprisingly cogent rant, he knocks over the bottle of the Da Bomb, and it is dutifully gurgling out of the bottle the whole time that he is talking. It's chef's kiss perfect.
posted by ishmael at 5:11 PM on April 13 [7 favorites]
Tangentially, I loved Conan's Prince story [3:05] on the Tonight Show, also during his press tour this week.
posted by fairmettle at 5:13 PM on April 13 [3 favorites]
posted by fairmettle at 5:13 PM on April 13 [3 favorites]
So, yeah, the sauces Conan was, uh, saucing around, were not "Da Bomb". He tried it, and he did it, but that's not the one he was extravagantly saucing about with.
Given that in previous episodes Sean's jaw has dropped when a guest simply takes a large or second bite of Da Bomb, I would say that pouring extra on, eating most of the wing, then licking what's left, is fairly extravagant. He certainly consumed many times more of it by volume than any other guest.
posted by lampoil at 6:39 PM on April 13 [7 favorites]
Given that in previous episodes Sean's jaw has dropped when a guest simply takes a large or second bite of Da Bomb, I would say that pouring extra on, eating most of the wing, then licking what's left, is fairly extravagant. He certainly consumed many times more of it by volume than any other guest.
posted by lampoil at 6:39 PM on April 13 [7 favorites]
in previous episodes Sean's jaw has dropped when a guest simply takes a large or second bite of Da Bomb
There's a bit from when Rob Lowe was on, and just before he eats Wing 8, he tells Sean, "you know what? For this wing I think I'm going to eat the whole thing." Sean's eyes widen - but then you hear the entire crew off camera go into a series of whispery "oh my god" murmurs. Rob Lowe hears them - and remarks to Sean that "wow, did you hear that from the crew? That was awesome! .....And now I'm rethinking eating the whole wing!"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:17 PM on April 13 [1 favorite]
There's a bit from when Rob Lowe was on, and just before he eats Wing 8, he tells Sean, "you know what? For this wing I think I'm going to eat the whole thing." Sean's eyes widen - but then you hear the entire crew off camera go into a series of whispery "oh my god" murmurs. Rob Lowe hears them - and remarks to Sean that "wow, did you hear that from the crew? That was awesome! .....And now I'm rethinking eating the whole wing!"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:17 PM on April 13 [1 favorite]
Yeah, that rant about reading Homer while steam came out of his ears from the hot sauce made me think of that bit where Lisa Simpson eats something too hot and rasps, "I CAN SEE THROUGH TIME!"
posted by praemunire at 7:51 PM on April 13 [10 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 7:51 PM on April 13 [10 favorites]
This was solid. Still, I think I take Paul Rudd's performance over it. Rudd's keel through the interview was more composed and I think he gave better answers. Rudd didn't consume as much hot sauce, but he did a super last dab that puts him in the ballpark. And they closed the interview in style. Obviously this one was a different approach and EMMV, just my 2c.
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 9:20 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 9:20 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]
SNL’s Beyoncé Hot Wings sketch is now my second favorite episode.
posted by interogative mood at 9:30 PM on April 13 [7 favorites]
posted by interogative mood at 9:30 PM on April 13 [7 favorites]
This was solid. Still, I think I take Paul Rudd's performance over it.
I’ve seen clips or Hot Ones before but I just watched the full Rudd and Conan episodes. The juxtaposition of the two really reminded me of the bass piece “Failing” by Tom Johnson.
Both are an increasingly improvised spoken performance where the goal is to act normal and natural while doing something increasingly challenging at the same time. You must fail in order to succeed at the performance, but ideally you hold out as long as you can and fail in your own distinct style.
posted by GammaGoblin at 11:13 PM on April 13 [3 favorites]
I’ve seen clips or Hot Ones before but I just watched the full Rudd and Conan episodes. The juxtaposition of the two really reminded me of the bass piece “Failing” by Tom Johnson.
Both are an increasingly improvised spoken performance where the goal is to act normal and natural while doing something increasingly challenging at the same time. You must fail in order to succeed at the performance, but ideally you hold out as long as you can and fail in your own distinct style.
posted by GammaGoblin at 11:13 PM on April 13 [3 favorites]
I'd never heard of Conan O’Brien - but was impressed to see he committed to this in exactly the same way he did to riding the water buffalo.
posted by rongorongo at 2:14 AM on April 14 [4 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 2:14 AM on April 14 [4 favorites]
There was a clip from a recent podcast recording where Conan and his crew were joking over which of them he could beat in a fight.
At about the 9:15 mark, one of his producers remarks that, in all seriousness, he has seen Conan perform remarkable feats of physical endurance in the pure service of comedy.
It reminded me, as this interview also does, of the exchange from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?:
At about the 9:15 mark, one of his producers remarks that, in all seriousness, he has seen Conan perform remarkable feats of physical endurance in the pure service of comedy.
It reminded me, as this interview also does, of the exchange from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?:
Eddie Valiant: Do you mean to tell me that you coulda taken your hand out of that cuff at any time?posted by rollick at 7:59 AM on April 14 [19 favorites]
Roger Rabbit: No, not at any time. Only when it was funny.
Incredibly managed chaos, he holds it together remarkably well through the end. Coincidentally, I happened across a cuban sandwich place yesterday that had a bunch of the sauces featured in the show, Zombie Apocalypse is painfully hot but actually quite flavourful, I can confirm that Da Bomb is just utterly foul. It tastes like burning plastic.
posted by lucidium at 8:28 AM on April 14 [1 favorite]
posted by lucidium at 8:28 AM on April 14 [1 favorite]
One thing I loved about this was that Conan O'Brien appears to have no vanity - there are a lot of shots of him talking with half-chewed food visible in his open mouth, his face is dirty, and in general he also seems to have no problem with having just a normal aging human face, with the same cheap Irish skin I have.
posted by lizard music at 11:13 AM on April 14 [12 favorites]
posted by lizard music at 11:13 AM on April 14 [12 favorites]
I’m surprised that no one but me had the thought, while watching the interview, that there was some sleight of hand involved. There’s just too much going on, with bottles moving around, half eaten wings being stuffed in pockets, and the joke doctor coming in and out, that it’s possible that some bottles got replaced.
Now, I’m 95% sure Conan just went through with it and did everything for real, but a small part of me wonders if he tricked us all. And, honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he did.
posted by Kattullus at 11:13 AM on April 14 [3 favorites]
Now, I’m 95% sure Conan just went through with it and did everything for real, but a small part of me wonders if he tricked us all. And, honestly, I wouldn’t mind if he did.
posted by Kattullus at 11:13 AM on April 14 [3 favorites]
The episodes with Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence were good. They really did go on a journey. The Margot Robbie one was fun as well. I do enjoy this show, in a large part because of host Sean Evans. He’s a thoughtful and supportive host and a terrific interviewer.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 12:30 PM on April 14 [3 favorites]
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 12:30 PM on April 14 [3 favorites]
there was some sleight of hand involved
There is one point early on where he has a glass of water in his hand, cut away, cut back, he has a glass of milk instead.
But mostly I think Conan is just that crazy. I would not want to be his digestive system for the rest of the day!
posted by praemunire at 12:40 PM on April 14 [5 favorites]
There is one point early on where he has a glass of water in his hand, cut away, cut back, he has a glass of milk instead.
But mostly I think Conan is just that crazy. I would not want to be his digestive system for the rest of the day!
posted by praemunire at 12:40 PM on April 14 [5 favorites]
That was great.
I just kept thinking DON'T RUB YOUR EYES.
posted by adamrice at 1:53 PM on April 14 [9 favorites]
I just kept thinking DON'T RUB YOUR EYES.
posted by adamrice at 1:53 PM on April 14 [9 favorites]
Also don't use the restroom without lots and lots and lots of handwashing. Hell, use latex gloves for a few hours.
Ask Me How I Know
posted by Justinian at 7:26 PM on April 14 [2 favorites]
Ask Me How I Know
posted by Justinian at 7:26 PM on April 14 [2 favorites]
So now I know what Conan would look like on a cocaine bender.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:33 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 7:33 PM on April 14 [1 favorite]
I never really watched Conan's shows, but I certainly know who he is.
If there weren't shenanigans going on, that's a hell of a commit to a bit. Into hot things, but not into the "how hot can you tolerate" camp. But, Sean is a great interviewer, and I have enjoyed every episode I've watched.
Sidetrack: "I'm strong. I can kick..."
posted by Windopaene at 8:58 PM on April 14
If there weren't shenanigans going on, that's a hell of a commit to a bit. Into hot things, but not into the "how hot can you tolerate" camp. But, Sean is a great interviewer, and I have enjoyed every episode I've watched.
Sidetrack: "I'm strong. I can kick..."
posted by Windopaene at 8:58 PM on April 14
Conan debriefs on his Hot Ones episode on his podcast.
posted by ishmael at 8:10 AM on April 29 [3 favorites]
posted by ishmael at 8:10 AM on April 29 [3 favorites]
Yes, that on the podcast was some fantastic shooting the shit. 😂
But yes, definitely more scatalogical than my joke there if you're going to listen to that somewhere other people might hear it.
posted by ambrosen at 8:29 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]
But yes, definitely more scatalogical than my joke there if you're going to listen to that somewhere other people might hear it.
posted by ambrosen at 8:29 AM on April 29 [2 favorites]
Conan made a reference to red head’s higher pain tolerance. It turns out at least one study has found that this does extend to how red heads experience capsaicin the active ingredient in hot sauces.
posted by interogative mood at 6:51 AM on April 30
posted by interogative mood at 6:51 AM on April 30
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posted by Kattullus at 2:00 PM on April 13 [2 favorites]