Month: March 2025

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Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Hello, Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. I’m laughing because I sound different in my own ears. My dog ate my headphones, so I’m using actually today a bear I got from the airline. And you know what great quality airline headphones are.

I digress. Tonight is the Oscars. I did a preview episode of the Oscars yesterday, if you want to check that out, and we’ll talk about Shane Gillis hosting Saturday Night Live. We’ll talk about that tomorrow as well. Bill Burr called Elon Musk an effing baby and just like Hitler.

This happened on Bill Burr’s podcast. Apparently Twitter had flagged Bill Burr’s account after Burr had made fun of Elon Musk’s awkward wave. Bill said, when I’m to the Twitter guy guy lost his effing mind. That effing Twitter guy he literally see kyled. He did just hile.

You can accidentally hile, but when he had to see you mean it first, I’d say it was funny. I made fun another Twitter guy for seek Hilingk not once twice. And I never look at my emails. I’ll scroll through my emails, and it said my Twitter can’t have been flagged. I don’t even tweet anymore.

What an e F and baby just like Hitler an EF and baby. Burr then goes on to rant how Hitler was one of the biggest effing cowards ever for killing himself instead of facing the music. Burr then went on to rant about Hiller, calling Hitler one of the biggest cowards ever for killing himself instead of facing the music. At the end of World War Two. It’s been a lot of Bill Burr press.

He’s out promoting Glengarry Glenn Ross right now, and I’m starting to wonder is Bill gonna lose the old fans? And I’m not sure why I’m feeling that, but I’m feeling it. I think it’s a combination of being overexposed a little too much Bill Burr lately. And I’ve said that about a few comedians. Tim Gaffigan needs to tap the breaks, Nikki Glaser needs to tap the brakes.

I feel like there’s just a little bit much to Bill Burr and the Bill Burr were increasingly getting is some sort of mainstream media Bill Burr and not the quote unqute angry Bill Burr of his youth. Bill’s got a special coming up later this month, so we’ll be getting a lot of bill press in the next few weeks. May Martin spoke to The La Times. May has made a rock album. The La Times asked, May, this is obviously a tense time for a non binary Canadian comedian in the US, I holding up.

May said, like everybody, I’m full of existential dread and trying not to let the doom permeate too much and not to be paralyzed by how hopeless it all feels right now, because I know that it’s not hopeless, it just feels like such a massive step back. I have a lot of friends who are articulate activists, and I tried to take my clues from them La Times. This election cycle showed how some elements of stand up comedy culture drive a lot to the far right. With President Trump going on, Joe Rogan and Tony Hinchcliffe performing at a Trump rally. Dave Chappelle arguably contributed to the current anti trans backlash in his work.

The question is an unnerving to see people with backgrounds and stand up having this direct line to the far right in power. May said, yeah, it’s very strange, but I could see where they met. Because governments reach into reality TV. Now you’ve got the host of the Apprentice. Of course he’s going to want to talk to that host of Fear Factor.

That’s funny. But those guys you’re referencing, they’re not part of my comedy community. I don’t think about them. What I want is for you to engage in combat with them. I’d rather be aligned with qualified people and thinkers and scientists.

I hope that the heroes of mine are still fighting the good fight and not falling into this perception that the enemy is the WOLP left. The San Diego Union Tribune caught up with Jerry Seinfeld and Jim gaff again. They asked, Jim, one of your favorite comedy topics has been your weight battle. As your perspective on food changed, and do you and Jerry eat together one on tour? Gaffigan said, Jerry eats more during the day than anyone I’ve ever seen, and I’m an eater.

He eats breakfast and then eats lunch. Then come around five o’clock he so discipline he stops eating. I have no discipline, but I’m more of a late night eater, which is probably the healthiest time to do it, especially a big stake at Burgers. Then I can climb in bed and see how many nightmares I have. The great thing about an appetite suppressant is that I still have the desire, but just consume like a human being rather than a dog.

That got a laugh out of Jerry. The conversation moved to the current news cycle. Jim said, we live in such a twenty four hour news cycle. I’d like to give these people the audience credit that they’re mourning whatever crisis, man or natural. But at the shows they got out of their way not to acknowledge that.

I’d say that after nine to eleven it was weird performing, But otherwise, humans are always looking to embrace denial. Jerry said, We’re never in a good place. It doesn’t matter what’s going on in the world. I went to the premiere of Amy Schumer’s new movie Kind of Pregnant and sat in a pack movie theater and everybody laughed their heads off from start to finish. Really, Jerry, everybody laughed their heads off and kind of pregnant.

Who was in the audience. I digress. Jerry says, that’s what a comedy show is. You’re enjoying the movie, but also fifty percent of the fun as being around people who were laughing, and everybody forgets what they were upset about. What an amazing feeling it was to sit in an audience.

It’s like Jurassic Park with dinosaur rides. Good question here, what are some of the things making you laugh right now? Jerry said, I’ve been thinking about the number of different fake identities. I seem to be a husband and father. I actually had a chameleon and the cute little lizard asked me, how are you able to transform yourself like that?

And I said to the lizard, coming from you, that’s a real compliment. I got to laugh out of Jim. Jerry continued, I’ve learned her audiences really think that I’m this person who is thoughtful and empathetic to their problems and interested in their day, and they’re buying it. Jim has said, I’m going to a middle score basketball game today and then a girls high school basketball game after that, and there’s some anxiety in my life. It’s very raw rod the games, and I think you shouldn’t say anything.

I’m amazing parents that lose it at these games. I can’t believe they really care. I’m always nervous about committing to the kids’ games, so don’t know what the schedule is. The last thing you want to say is I’ll be there and don’t show up, and there’s ten years of therapy. Jerry commented, if your father showed up but everything you did, you’d think, what’s wrong with him?

Is dad? Okay? Jim said, my dad came to a couple of football games, but it would be weird if he came to everything. Now, if you don’t go to a game, you’re consider the great Satan parents. I will tell you those years go fast.

I feel like it was five minutes ago. I was the coach of some five year old Rex soccer kids and they’re all graduating college. Now it goes so fast. Enjoy all those games. I disagree with Jim and Jerry.

Make every game that you can. This has been my first fall, and now spring is an empty nester and I two weeks ago, I said to my wife, it’s six thirty eight pm and I’ve watched two movies already. I don’t know what to do with myself. Now, once it gets warm, I’ll go out sign we’ll go hiking and hiking being generous walking out in the forest somewhere. I start doing that and I’ll start running again.

But it has just been so cold. I’ve just been watching everything. Have you watched Paradise yet? By the way, watch Paradise. This weekend’s episode of Paradise was one of the top episodes of television ever.

No qualifier. There, Did you hear me what I said? This weekend’s Paradise was one of the best episodes of television ever. No qualifier. I’m not going to tell you what the show’s about.

I’m not going to tell you why I’m saying that. Just watch Paradise. It’s on Hulu. I digress again. Rosebud Baker talked to The Hollywood Reporter.

They were curious how she finds the difference between watching her self perform as opposed to watching the SNL cast perform their materials she writes for SNL. Great question, Rosebud said, I get the same juice from it. I really love getting a win. That means getting people to laugh, whether or not I’m the person performing it. It’s funny.

When I started as a stand up I didn’t think I wanted to write stuff that someone else got to do. But now it’s a really good feeling. And the thing about SNL is that it’s collective wins. You don’t necessarily get credit for your specific liner joke, but when it’s a loss, it’s a collective life. Rosebud.

Was it like getting back to stand up after having the baby? Rosebud said, the first time going back on stage was wild. I felt like I had gone to space and come back and I was like, I went to space, and Everybody’s like, yeah, Okay, we’ve seen his pictures of space, and I’m like, but these are my pictures of space. They’re mine. You feel so weirdly separate from the world, and especially from the comedy world.

I had to find my footing. Hollywood Reporter, you have a few jokes in the special about feeling as though men are useless when going through things like IVF. Do men get the absurdity of the gender gaps and those experiences? Rosebud said, Look, the short answer is I don’t care. The longer answer is if men are able to watch it laugh at it, that doesn’t make me happy, because I do want comedy to be a unifying thing.

That’s what I aim for. That being said when I was writing this, I was thinking of women because I was writing from my perspective. I thought, this one’s for the girlies. But I’ve been surprised that the number of men that have responded to the special. I don’t hate it.

I’ll take the win.

And then they were curious what part of SNL fifty she liked, and she said I w…

But I did get the week of the fiftieth off because it was the senior writers and the alumni who were writing for the special. So I was just able to enjoy the show on the party, which was really nice. It helped remind me what a legendary place this is to work. You can lose sight of that when you come in every day. Your heroes are hanging on the walls, but that doesn’t always sink in being there at that show.

It really sunk in how lucky I am. This is part of comedy history and I got to be there. That rosebud piece reminded me that I hadn’t seen any press about George Lopez at all. Remember, he had a comedy special that came and went and nobody talked about it. And as of this recording I haven’t watched yet.

Let me type George Lopez into Google’s see what comes up. George Lopez is almost unrecognizable now with long hair. George is only sixty three and he’s retiring. That’s curious. Let’s see, yep, from a month ago, all these articles about his hair.

So he apparently did no press for that special. That’s just weird, really weird. Let’s file that away in the back of our mind because sometime in the next x years we’re gonna find out why there was no press for this special. I’ve been doing this for a while. There’s gonna be something there.

Colin Jill dug through twelve dumpsters of trash trying to find wife Scarlett Johansson’s lost engagement ring. Colin told a story on Pop Culture Jeopardy and said it was a great day for me. One time, Scarlett told Jost she thought she might have accidentally thrown the ring in the trash. Colin goes through twelve dumpsters and says, I went back to the house and she said, oops, it was in my pocket. I understand.

I’m somebody who I don’t know. Nine times a day will ask my wife, have you seen my keys and they’re in my hand? Or have you seen my phone and they’re in my pocket? And I’ll find my keys on my phone and my keys will be in my pocket. I’m that person you don’t want to live with me.

Rachel Dratch is bringing her comedic talent to the Uniworld Boutique River Cruise inaugural women only cruise. Yes, do you want to sail through France on the SS Catherine beginning August twenty fourth, Rachel Dratch will be there. The crew says, we’re beyond excited to welcome the incredibly talented and hilarious Rachel Dratch aboard our special women only cruise. This cruise is all about bringing women together to new experiences, create friendships, and enjoy plenty of laughter along the way. So is this the new thing cruises?

No, men, I’ll remind you, we have our own cruise. It’s called Burt Krascher’s fully loaded at sea. So if you want to take your shirt off and do manly man stuff, yeah, Bert Krescher does these. It doesn’t look like there’s a new one scheduled, but there is the Nate Berghazy Cruise coming up. Now that one’s probably family friendly, right.

I don’t think we’d be taking our shirt off and doing whatever us guys do when the women aren’t around. We’re not gonna be doing that on the Nate cruise. That’s for the Burt Cruise. But there’s no Burt Cruise scheduled right now. Look at the pictures.

Looks like it was fun anyway. The Trick comedy news for today. All right, we’ll talk Oscars in Shane Gillis in the morning. See you then,

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Full Transcript

Caloroga Shark Media. Do you like Conan O’Brien, because if you do, you’ll like today’s show, and if you don’t, you might as well leave. Now. I’m Johnny Mack with your Daily Comedy News. This is the OSCARS Preview, your host for the ninety seventh Annuel Academy Awards, former late night talk show host current podcaster Conan O’Brien.

He joked at a press conference, I only hosted so I could be invited. Conan did a lot of press this week. Everything I’m about to tell you here is from many different sources. I’ll mention the sources for the most part, but understand that I’m really bouncing around from interview to interview and trying to piece things together thematically. As we had forward here, Conan was riffing.

He said he was probably the greatest entertainer of the producers I’ve ever worked with. The producer said working with Conan has been a delightful experience. Conan said, well, we’ll see what you’re saying on Monday. The OSCARS team, they’re incredible professionals. They know what they’re doing, they do beautiful work, and it’s been a thrill for myself off and from my head writer, Mike Sweeney, and also my lawyer as well.

Conan said one of the things that as him the most excited is wearing a tuxedo. He said, it’s the nicest thing I’ve ever put on in my life. It’s made by High Society. Conan said it was important to use them because these are the people that make incredible wardrobe in Los Angeles. I didn’t want to go with whatever designer.

We wanted to do something that was from the community, and they made this incredible tuxedo. Another reason Conan accepted incredible lighting. I said yes to this happily because I wanted to be part of this magical machine and have for the first time my life, incredible lighting. Because when I see people on a mall, all they say is you look so good in person, what’s wrong with you on television? And this is my chance, so let’s get that lighting together.

Conan got some advice from Pass hosts, including Billy Crystal and Kimmel. Conan said, I’ve spoken with Billy Crystal, who I think is the als. I’m great and mastered the hosting of the Oscars, in my opinion and will always be top Conan said Kimmel and his wife reached out to Conan and met him at a restaurant. Conan joked that Kimmel picked an expensive restaurant and ordered tons of appetizers that I don’t need. I don’t eat shell fish.

He ordered it and then stuck me with a bill while wife Molly gave me all the pitches and the things I should know. Molly’s the genius in that equation. They’ve been very supportive and very helpful, and so that’s nice because I came up in a very different era of late night, when not everybody was chobby and friendly, and he didn’t just pick up the phone. So this new era where people are so lovely to each other is something I don’t take for granted. Interesting anecdote about Billy Crystal from the Times interview.

Conan said, Billy lost his house in the fire, and I didn’t want to bother him because I can only imagine. Then I saw him at the SNL fifty and we had a long talk. So I think I’m going to be texting him to say, hey, maybe here is some jokes things like that. Then he talked about the dinner with the Kimmel’s ConA said things you wouldn’t even think about, Like if you’re doing a bit about somebody in act one, make sure they’re in their seat, because sometimes five minutes into the monologue they’re still loading people in. Jimmy said, just make sure you sit down when you can in between acts, because you’re standing the whole three hours and it does start to wear away at you.

So I’ve had a pair of metal legs made that I’m going to paint a flush color. ConA talked about Kimmel at a different piece and said his tips kept going back to try and sit down. If you could do the jokes sitting down, do them sitting down? What are you? Franklin roosevelts, it’s funny.

Conan was on Kimmel’s show, and Kimmel said, I wouldn’t give you tips on jokes or any of that stuff. I’d never do anything like that, and asked Conin do you have a tuxedo? Codin said, I have a tuxedo. I’m going to change out fits fifteen times. How many tuxedos would you wear in a night?

Kimmel said, well, what I would have is two jackets, and I would switch into the second jacket, and I always felt dumb about it, And Conan said, good to known, and he would tie a chair to your butt. Right more Conan, he spoke to us Weekly and said, I’ve hosted many awards show in my life, but the Oscars it’s the pinnacle. It’s the one you dream about hosting when your child. As long as the pay is good, I’m looking into that. What can we expect.

There’ll be several moments in the Oscars were all be shirtless and oil, and I think that’s going to hurt the program incredibly. My biggest goal is to enjoy the nine hours of the Oscar telecast. I think it would be a shame to get the chance to host the Oscars and not have a good time. So I’ll be medicated. Conan said, the biggest hosting lesson he’s learned over the years is that mistakes aren’t mistakes.

I’m someone who hopes that things sometimes go a little off the rails because that’s where the real memorable moments happen on late night and on the Oscars. Yeah, there is this thing a couple of years ago. I don’t know if you remember, remember Will Smith slap Chris Rock. Yeah, I think we’re still talking about that. One Conan says he will address the current political climate during the awards, but he won’t get bogged down in devisive jokes.

I think it’s host I can’t ignore the moment we’re in, but I also have to remember it’s threading a needle. I also have to remember what we’re here to celebrate and fuse the show with positivity and also shine a light and all those people that have worked incredibly hard, not just dayless celebrities, but people you never see, craftsmen and crafts people that work hard and have spent years making the films. But I do with humor, and then I also make sure the night doesn’t drift into only about politics, because I think that’s robbing people of something beautiful, hard work that they’ve done. So it’s a difficult line to walk, but I’m determined to figure it out. We’re told the show we’ll have uplifting moments dedicated to la after January’s fires.

As for his week putting this together, it’s been a thrill. It’s like for the first time getting to drive a Ferrari. My philosophy on this is as the host, I’m the spokesperson in a way. I’m the person who’s sitting in for anyone who’s watching at home. If something happens it seems awful, funny, or strange, I should comment on it.

Will Conan have a musical opening? His answer, I can either confirm nor deny anything that’s happening anywhere in the show, mostly because I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t come to rehearsal. I hang out a cheesecake factory which is on Vinen Island. The whole check here in this business to get people to watch, to see what’s gonna happen.

See, this is the mistake I used to make. I used to tell people exactly what I was going to do long before I did it, and no one tuned in. Then I learned, oh, don’t tell people what you’re gonna do. A magician taught me that The New York Times profiled Conan. Conan had to evacuate his home during the fires.

His wife called and asked what to save. His only thought was a nineteen eighty letter from author E. B. White, Conan had written to him as a teenage fan. Conan said, and he wrote me back a really sweet letter.

So I said, just grab that if the rest goes, it goes. Conan is still living in a hotel. His preparation for hosting the Oscars has included bringing in ten of his own writers, running jokes by the crew, and dropping into clubs in LA to try out the material. You know now that I’m thinking, I’ll tell you. I had reached out to Smigel’s camp to see if I get him on to talk about Night of Too Many Stars, and I got silence back, probably because Smigel’s probably working with Conan on this, now that I think about it.

That said, professionally, a non response is just the worst thing high Night of Too Many Stars. Just write me back and say, like, the dude’s busy, or we hate your show, or nobody listens to your show. We’re not doing that. Non Responses aren’t cool if you work professionally in the industry. No is a perfectly good answer.

Hey do you want to host the Oscars? No? Hey do you want to host the Oscars? Well, I’ll get back to you, or let me think about it. That’s not good.

It’s seem like with your friends, do you want to hang out Saturday night? No? Just tell them no. If you don’t want to hang out. Just no is a fine answer anyway.

Hopefully I’ll hear from the Smigel people. I’m just genuinely interested in the event and what goes into the event, and in the most positive way. You raise some money, where does the money go? I don’t mean that like I’m hosting sixty minutes. I don’t mean it like where does the money go?

I mean like, oh, where does the money go? You? Guys, guys seem like you’re doing a good thing. You’d like to learn more about it. So smigle camp, someone get back to me if you want to tell me.

Nobody listen to the podcast. That’s fine. I have digressed to Conan brought in ten writer is one of them, possibly perhaps maybe who knows Robert Smigel to work on the jokes. They’ve been running jokes by the crew and dropping in at clubs in LA to try out material. But they’ve been keeping that on the DL.

I haven’t heard a thing about that. That’ll probably come out next week. Interesting that that hasn’t leaked at all. Conan said, I started seriously writing comedy around the time I was eighteen, and that’s what I think about all the time. But he says there’s no formula.

It’s frustrating, but it’s not math. He can’t prove it. The only way to find out is to try it on people. He also wouldn’t tell The Times if he’s doing a musical number or an opening montage. My guess one hundred percent, Yes, one hundred percent.

I have no doubt he will do something musical and goofy to open up. But Conan says nothing’s in stone. I’m leaving every possibility on the table. I have choices right now. We’ll see what happens.

Conan got a little more serious with The Times. I said yes, because I’m nostalgic, particularly now about my childhood. The biggest thrill I’ve had in my career is meeting the celebrities that were on my TV when I was a little boy. So when I met Don Knats, I lost my mind. When I met Tom Cruise, I was happy and he was lovely to me, but it couldn’t have the same impact as Don Knots, and I remember watching Johnny car Person hosts the Oscars and that being a big deal.

The entertainment landscape has changed a lot. I told Billy Crystal, you hit a note that I don’t think you can hit anymore because when people tuned into his Oscars, everyone had seen the movies. He was parrotying, it’s not the communal campfire that maybe it once was. But I still think the Oscars is meaning really good cinema, especially when it’s from different countries, different points of view, as an incredible amount of residence and importance right now, and this is the night that celebrates that. To be part of it is meaningful to me.

I don’t think of it as a thankless task. Even if I just do it once and no one’s interested in me in doing it again, it’ll have been a meaningful experience for me. My parents aren’t here to see it. Yeah, they passed away last year, but I know it would have been a huge deal to them. I was able to tell my father and he was impressed.

He probably wondered, couldn’t they find someone else. ConA told people I have a really great photograph of my parents laughing in the audience, an event I did years ago, and I realized early on the original reason anybody gets into comedy is just trying to make our parents laugh. I used to think to myself sometimes, Huh, why would I continue doing comedy. If my parents aren’t here anymore, I’ll still be thinking about them on Oscar night and trying to get them to laugh. That’s kind of a comfort.

It’s also more pressure in case in the hereafter they don’t like it, and they let me know. When your parents go through all that effort to travel through space, time and the mists of mystery to tell you they didn’t love it, that’s a crushing blow. So I’ve really got to nail it. The topic of politics came up again. Conan said, it’s all about threading the needle.

I’m there really to talk about the films, to talk about the industry, and yeah, there’s gonna be political jokes here and there. There have to be. But if it’s a screed, I’m doing a disservice to everybody. I’m actually doing a disservice to the people who might agree with the screed. In my opinion, however, anyone voted should not be a prerequisite for whether you enjoy the show.

I feel very strongly about that. What’s Conan the most nervous about getting the tone right. The tone’s been shifting a lot in LA and people love to project their agenda on a big show. The thing I think the most about is how the ground can shift between when I’m talking to you. This is the New York Times and this is by Molna Rizzicks.

I’m not friend of the show, Jason Zinneman. Perhaps Malayna could become a friend of the show, but ConA wants to get the tone right. The tone has been shifting a lot in LA. The thing I think about the most is how the ground can shift between when I’m talking to you and when the show happens. Moods can change, currents can change.

I want to make sure that I have my intenta up forever, and I’m gonna be doing that right up until they tap me on the shoulder to go out. So I just hope I’m able to ride it like a wave, because there’s so much about it that I can’t manifest. Now just gonna happen. It’s what excites me and worries me, and that in a nutshell my life, I’m drawn to things that scare me. They excite me and they scare me.

I love them and I dread them, and it keeps flipping. And they haven’t made a medication yet that will fix it. I think the surprise for America is people are gonna look at this and say, that’s one of the most attractive men alive. Some more odds and ends from Conan. I’m gonna go to the audience and I’m gonna shave a Stanley Tucci’s chest.

He hasn’t consented, He’s heard about it, he said no, but I’m still gonna do it. Conan said, the Oscar audience can expect to say something new. I don’t care if my ideas are bad ideas. I care that they’re new and you haven’t seen it before. You know what I mean.

Wrestling the giant Kobra, you know, for the first time on stage hasn’t been done. I can sing, I can dance, I can do close up magic. I’m a contortionist. You don’t know what I’m gonna do. Anything can happen at any time.

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with the producers of the Oscars, Raj Kapor and Katie Milan. Katie told The Hollywood Reporter, We’ve been preparing for the show for months and months and nights, and then what happened in January caused us to do a rethink of a lot of the elements and really think, Okay, how do we acknowledge it, the fires, how do we reflect on it?

And also how do we give the people the ability work so hard and have so much …

So, yeah, it’s been an interesting and difficult couple of months and we just really hope this year’s show kind of helps heal and it’s a bit of a love letter to la. Kapoor also was a producer on this year’s Grammys. The Grammars were acclaimed for the way they handled La. Kapoor said, it’s definitely influenced our show. We have moments that definitely acknowledge the fires, what has happened.

It’s kind of our unique spin on how we acknowledge that. But there will be at least three moments when the show that touch on it and hopefully have some messaging that may be inspiring. Then you know, a charitable component with the Motion Picture Academy and the charities they’re supporting, and then there’s a way that Conan will acknowledge it. So throughout the evening there’s gonna be some touchstones to acknowledge because so many people in the room. So many people in the film industry have been impacted by it, and I think almost everybody in LA knows somebody who’s experienced some sort of loss or impact.

So we feel that it’s very prudent that we acknowledge it and make it part of our show. We also have the Oscars to produce. We have twenty three awards to give out, and we want to really honor everybody who’s nominated and have the unique things that make the Oscars the Oscars. Milan talked about what Conan’s up to and said, there’s a lot of ideas and he’s a great team. People have been cooking them up for weeks and weeks and weeks.

What we have at the moment is probably way too many, but we love that because then we can whittle it down to the best of the best for the show. Some of them are pre taped, a lot of them are live in the room. I think Conan is just so beloved and he has such great connections with pretty much everybody who’s going to be in that audience. So seeing that from the stage and allowing him to kind of really own the room and give everybody license in the room and have a good time. It’s crucial and key.

But you know what we love about Conan in his styles that he always comes up with something unexpected. We’re going to pepper that throughout the show. So yes, there will be some pretapes. There’s definitely going to be some unexpected moments, and there are probably some surprises we haven’t even thought of yet because it’s a constantly evolving creative process. At the moment.

Oscar writer Bruce Valange talked to The Hollywood Reporter about some of what goes on in making one of these things. They asked the question kind of similar to what Trevor Noah talked about that I played the clip the other day. Do you play to the room or do you to play the people at home? Bruce said, you make it work for the house meeting the people in the room, because if the house is enjoying it, that spirit is seen by people at home watching it, and they kind of get into the fact that it’s working, and even though they might not know every reference is being made, there’ll be enough you have to calibrate. His advice for any Oscar Night host, I always tell hosts to front load the show because for everybody who wins.

There are four people who don’t, and as the evening wears on, the room fills up with losers, and they’re not listening to you. They’re texting, firing their agent, firing their dentist, whoever. So you’re not gonna get the laughs you got. And many times the camera cuts to where Eddie Murphy was sitting and now it’s a lady who bought a dress from TJ Max that you got for the occasion. You better do this strong stuff up front because you’re not gonna build as the show goes on.

All right, Bruce, what makes a great Oscar host? And guys, you know I don’t preread these things half the time. Ah, I didn’t set this up. I’m laughing. Let me answer.

Bruce said, Well, what Joe Cooy proved at the Golden Globes is you have to be a big star. I’m not going to do it. Scott Becker, relax because if you’re gonna make fun of big stars, they have to feel as if you’re on their level. There’s a very short list of people who can do that. Generally, no one wants to do it.

Bruce is they’re an upside of hosting an Award Show. Hey, if you’re Nikki Glaser, there’s a great upside. And she wasn’t mean. She calibrated her stuff. Her act is very dirty and she was being a nice girl, but she had a little edge to it.

I don’t know if it would have worked on the Oscars necessarily, because while it’s the same crowd, there’s more pomp and ceremony to this thing. Listen to this question, who was the worst Oscar host that you had to work with? Bruce Flanche said, well, I had a problem with Ellen, but that’s because she was I think she was scared. Hollywood Reporter seems you weren’t the only one to have had a hard time working with Ellen. Bruce said, yeah, I had no idea.

She isolated herself a lot. It was not fun and I like her. I’ve known her for years and she was always fun, but I think the burden of everything that happened to her changed her. I think she was a little risk averse, even though she was now on her own talk show and everything about her was out and the public loved her. I think she was very protective and wanted her people around her and that was it.

So that was the only one that was really difficult. Bruce R. People ever warned that they’re going be made fun of. He said, no, Elizabeth Taylor was the real exception. It was because it was a joke about a personal life.

Billy Crystal was introducing al Pacino and he said, this is al Pacino’s eighth nomination and he’s never won. He’ said more people cry out another man’s name than anybody except Larry Fortinski. That was Elizabeth Taylor’s seventh husband and longtime Oscar telecast director Gil Kate says, it’s hysterical. You have to call Elizabeth because it’s a sex joke about her. Anyway, he called her and told her the joke, and she said, who’s Larry.

That’s great. They’re really nothing comedy specific other than the whole conan of it all. In case you’re curious, you’re in an Oscar’s mood if you’re still listening to me twenty minutes in. The nominees for Best Picture are Anora The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown Conclave, Dune Part two, Amelia Perez, I’m still here, Nicol Boy’s The Substance, and Wicked. The only one of those I’ve seen is Dune Part two, and I didn’t think it was that good, so don’t ask me what the best picture is.

And as I record this late on Thursday afternoon, I’m now realizing they’re probably scrambling to put together something for the Great Gene Hackman that is quite developing new stories. I record on Thursday afternoon, perhaps by the time you’re hearing this on Saturday, the story has changed one way or another. We have some more information, So I don’t mean to offend. It’s Thursday three, sixteen pm Eastern, Johnny Mack talking to you now. But my point here is, yeah, I bet there’ll be a big Gene Hackman segment on Sunday.

So tomorrow is a normal episode. Monday morning, I’ll talk about the oscars and also about Hing Gillis hosting Saturday Night Live tonight, and I’m gonna go bug Mike Chisholm from The Letterman Podcast and see if I can get him to talk Conan with me on Monday, so you might get a bonus episode Monday as well. We’ll see, all right, see you tomorrow