Play It Again, Yassir

0:03Conan O 'Brien needs a fan. Want to talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com slash call Conan. Okay, let's get started hi yasir welcome to conan o 'brien needs a fan hey yasir how are you oh hi man hi hi conan i'm fine i'm doing good yeah and sona's here too oh yeah hi son hi um yasir where are you where in the world are you right now where are you coming to us from yeah i'm calling you from nantes france it's in the southwest of france got it yeah north south of france got it Uh, but I'm originally from Morocco. All right. Now tell me, where are you from in Morocco? Uh, from Casablanca. Wow. You're from Casablanca?

0:44Yeah. Yeah. I was, uh, well, my parents are from there, but I originally was, I was born in, uh, you know, three hours from Casablanca, but I lived there, uh, most of my life after 18. I just have to ask right away because one of my favorite movies and probably maybe the most iconic movie in, uh, Noir cinema would be Casablanca. Yeah. When you see the movie Casablanca, is it at all evocative of the Casablanca you know, or is it, it has nothing to do with Casablanca? I think, I have no idea. I've never watched it. What? You've never watched Casablanca? What? I did not watch it. I know the movie, but I never watched it.

1:30It's like an hour and 40 minutes. I'm first of all, I'm coming to Casablanca and I'm going to show you the movie Casablanca. And then I'm going to walk around in a trench coat and a hat. Okay. And I'm going to make you dress as a, as a, as a French officer. Okay. That's just what we're doing. None of those references speak to me. I don't care if they speak to you or not. Yasir. This is, this is, this enrages me. Yeah, I think I don't know what is it about, actually. So it could be about another city. So, OK, well, anyway, well, it's not. Yeah, it's about the Casablanca that's in Morocco and in the title.

2:13Yeah. Well, well, yes, sir. So tell me a little bit about Casablanca. Do you think I'd fit in OK there? Would I would people accept me in Casablanca? uh yeah i think people mostly will accept you in casablanca but you will you would definitely you will stand out i mean you're tall i think i don't know what six feet four in me in centimeters but i think i think we could tell you average people we're going to find out for you right now how many centimeters tall i am thanks to eduardo who has an app just for this question which we get all the time how tall are you in centimeters and he 195 i'm 195 centimeters oh No, okay.

2:53No, no, no. You're taller than everybody I know. Okay. No, you'd stand out. The hair, we don't have lots of redheads in Casablanca, so I think you'd stand out. Yeah. Someone said that I talked to from Marrakesh. It's actually from Marrakesh. She thinks I look like a camel. Thanks for having my back on that. There's a resemblance. I can see it. Yeah. Okay. This is great. This is going really well. Well, tell me a little bit about yourself. Yes, sir. What do you do? What do you like? What's your whole deal? Yes, sir. Yeah. Well, I'm a project manager for a consultancy, so I work with clients. They're mostly I just go talk to people that are more experienced than me and tell them, did you finish the thing that you said you were going to finish?

3:47And I just update it on a file and that's my deal. This is the plot of Casablanca. This is exactly what it's about. Yeah. It's about a data manager and he keeps asking people, you finished, have you put it on a file? and then at the end they put it on a file and they all get on a plane and leave. It's a very good movie. I can't believe you haven't watched it. Yeah. And the lead character is called Yossir. And it's a noir movie. Yeah. It's an Excel. So, okay. So what do you like? You know, what do you do for fun? Do you go to the clubs? Tell me you go to the clubs. No, I wish. I wish. No, I don't go to the clubs.

4:25I go to the, well, in my free time, i go to the beach because i live next to the beach so i i usually go to the beach i just go for a swim and hang in there read a couple of books or a couple of books i read something and then i come back okay okay those mostly go to the beach you read a couple of books and then you come home um yeah do you uh are you a social person do you have a lot of friends i mean in general i do have friends but in london where i live now uh a couple of years i've been living here a couple of years so i don't have generally much a lot of friends so i usually go to social things alone oh okay hey sounds like you need a friend yeah that's what i'm calling i think yeah yeah this is really nice this is a good connection um will you be his friend no um i'm busy uh no he doesn't until he sees Casablanca, we are not hanging out.

5:22Yes, of course I'd be your friend. I'd be glad to be your friend. Do you make friends easily or are you someone who's more shy? I mean, I'm easy to talk to, but I'm more shy, so I wouldn't go to talk to people first. Yeah. Yeah. But I make friends at work. So a lot of my friends here are like, I made them from work. So yeah, I think that's where you meet people. I'm still trying to find a friend at work. Good luck. Keep looking. Move it, buddy. don't look to this side of the table yes sir um how how could i help you i like to try and help people when i go to other lands how could i help you yes sir yeah well i think you can help me uh figure out this this friendship thing like how could i how how would i you know approach this in a especially if i'm at a concert or i'm like a in a bar or something how would i approach what If we did a little role playing, you're just hanging out at a bar.

6:19We'll call it Rick's Joint. Yeah. And you come in and you see a nice guy and maybe you'll go strike up a conversation. Yeah. So let's try it right now. We're just going to make up the name of a bar and we're just going to say it's Rick's. Yeah. And let's just say that it's being shot in black and white. And let's just say that you've come in there. You have special papers you've been given that you have to hide because you can't be caught with these papers. Okay. This is very specific. I'm just giving generalities. A piano player named Sam. Yeah, okay. And yeah, exactly. And there's nice music playing in the background.

6:55You must remember this. A kiss is just a kiss. This set up for this improv. As we both know the lyrics of the song. The fundamental things apply as time goes by. And then you walk in and you're sort of like Peter Lorre. you're like, hey, man. You know, Ren and Stimpy? Oh, I see my name. Yeah, you're sort of, but your name is Yasir. And you're like, hey. But anyway, I say you come in and you see me and I'm sitting there. I'm, you know, classic Conan stiff upper lip. Oh my God, you're Humphrey Bogart? I didn't say that. I said I've just got a stiff upper lip. Okay. And I'm sitting there and I'm sitting there on a scotch.

7:41That was a big gulp of water you just took, Yasir. I guess I'm making this too long. You just had to hydrate during my setup. That's a new low for me. You see that gulp he took? That was a massive bottle. I'm getting into the kettle. This is a marathon. He just ate a protein bar.

8:07Okay, Yasser. And you're up. Enter and you see Conan. You try to make friends. Go. Oh, hi Conan, is this seat taken? Of all the joints and all the women, he has to come into mine. I don't really enjoy a few workers. I'm just realizing that now. Oh my God, it always goes to Nixon. Who is that? You think I'm a crook? I'm not a crook. My mother had a good Republican cloth coat. She was a Quaper, a Quaker. A Quaper? A Quaper. She was a Quaper, but then she saw a doctor and she had a first. What's happened? Then she was a Quaker. Yasser. Hey, Yasser, I'm Conan. Hey man, you seem like a nice guy. You seem funny.

8:54You seem nice. Maybe we should hang out sometime. What do you like to do? Hey, maybe we'll go see a classic movie. Chill out. He just asked if the seat was taken. Yasser, you might want to move on to someone else. What? No. What happened? Yasser, maybe I came on too strong. I might have come on too strong. I think so. Let's try it again. Let's try it again. Let's try it again. And you go, you go first. Oh, hi Conan. Oh, you know me. You're familiar with, you're familiar with my work? Oh yeah, no, this, yeah, the premise is okay. Yeah, this is just some guy, here's some guy. I'm not Conan. Let's say you guys are at a McDonald's, okay?

9:29Oh yeah. Okay. Hi, what's the best menu out here? I don't work here. I just landed for the first time. I just landed for the first time. I come to Morocco. I go to my favorite McDonald's. You're from here and you asked me what's good? What's your path? What's your problem, buddy? It's not you, Yasir. Yasir, that's again on me. I think, you know what? I was jet lagged. I was jet lagged. Yeah. Why don't you go up to him? Okay, I'll go up to you, Yasser. Okay. Hey, I'm new here. I just flew in from Los Angeles and I've just arrived in Morocco. This is my first time. My name's Conan. What's your name?

10:28Oh, my name is Yasser. Oh, Yasser. Oh, how's it going? Do you like Casablanca? I mean, I live here, so yeah. Hey, there are people that live in all kinds of cities, you know, people that live in Cleveland. Yeah, I don't assume they all love it, you know? So you might have opinions. Hey, if you live in Casablanca and you were born here, you must know the movie Casablanca. Oh God.

10:54I heard it's pretty good. Pretty good? It's a closet! What do you mean you haven't seen it? Yasser, again. It's okay. I went to Rage. That's always what I do. And I made a mistake. I apologize. Okay. Tell me about the food. What's your favorite meal in Casablanca? Oh, my favorite food there is couscous. That's my favorite dish. Okay. And what's your go-to meal that you go to? Well, my go-to meal is fast food. So I usually go for McDonald's. Wait, seriously? You go to McDonald's? That's why you were there. Yeah. But wait, what's your, what's your favorite, what's your favorite meal at McDonald's?

11:36A Big Mac. I usually take a Big Mac with fries and a diet Coke. Oh, a little healthy flourish at the end. Wait, so. It's always balancing. I love this. I love this. I love, I love this life. I love this world where I can talk to someone who's living in Morocco and steeped in that centuries old culture and ask them, what do you, what do you, what do you love to eat? It was Big Mac, but not the movie Casa Blanca. Yeah, you know Big Mac, but you like a Big Mac. And what do you get? What's your order? You have Big Mac? You said fries? Large fries or small? Fries. No, just small potatoes. I don't take the fries.

12:14I take the potatoes. I don't know if you have them. What is that? It's like, they're fries, and they are fries, like the normal McDonald's fries, and there are potatoes that are like, they're kind of red. They're smaller and thicker and red. We don't have those. No, we don't have little... with Bacarica. You love McDonald's, right? I love McDonald's. So you, as a resident expert, we don't have those, right? No, we don't have that. But we don't have that here. That must be a Moroccan thing. They're huge in Morocco. Okay. Do they have any special... Do they have anything in Morocco besides the potatoes that...

12:48Oh, yeah, they have goat cheese. What? They have a McNugget. A goat cheese, it's shaped like a McNugget. Oh, that sounds good. But in the inside, it's all goat cheese. Like breaded and fried goat cheese? Yes. What are those? Do they have like McCurdles or McTayers? Yeah, do they have funny little names? I honestly have no idea. Because they are in French. So I don't remember. But it's like goat cheese. Okay. Inside. What is it in French? Sorry. This will be good. All the menus are in French. I know, but what's it called in French? Le fromage de... Oh. Fromage de chevre. Oh, see, that was good.

13:31It was good. I thought it was wasting our time. It's McFarmanage de Chevre. So, and it's just like our McDonald's here. Easy on the water, pal. Let him drink. What do you mean easy on the water? I forgot he's in North Africa. It's probably 200 degrees. You just said three sentences and you need to replace all of your water. I need to rehydrate. Okay, so. So, okay. Yeah, but those are good, especially when you take them hot. It's like right after your order, you get them, they're still hot. It's like it melts in your mouth. Do you have Happy Meals there? They do have Happy Meals. I never had Happy Meals, but I, yeah.

14:14You're an adult. This is a great, you know what this is? A great cultural transfer. You telling us exactly how the McDonald's Happy Meal compares to our Happy Meal. this is a good way to spend spend our time I fear but okay so it sounds like you might need my help being a little more assertive with people to break that barrier talk to people a little more how else could I help you? that's it I don't think I need that much help I've been coming from you Okay. I also might get you some stuff for your wall. Hey, I have things. Okay. There's a little bracket behind you and it looks like you have maybe four postcards.

15:07Yes, from the US, from Boston, because I was there. Oh, okay, that's nice. That's nice. Wow, so you could show me McDonald's and some Boston postcards. I can't wait. I can't wait to go to Casablanca. I can't wait to travel 55 ,000 miles and see a postcard of Faneuil Hall.

15:31And then wash it all down with a Coke and a Big Mac. Some say that's the Moroccan experience. I think so. I think so. Well, Yasser, I like you. You seem like a fine gentleman. and I do implore you to watch Casablanca at some point in your life. Yeah, I think I'll do it. It may not bear any resemblance to the real Casablanca that you know, but, you know, come on. You should check it out. Don't you think? All right. Yeah. I'll give it a... I watched all episodes of Boston Legal just because it was Boston, you know? I can't believe I just threw that out there. That was such a dumb joke. All right, Yasser, I resign from comedy.

16:10It was nice talking to you and I'm going to come live with you and I'm bringing some stuff for your wall.

16:16okay wow okay if we could bottle this energy i'm happy i'm happy i love this guy i do you're a lot of fun yes sir i really do like you you've got a good vibe you know and uh yeah i think your resting heart rate is three three beats a millennia i think you're due for some water though yeah yeah rehydrate now okay it's been over eight seconds since you took in some water All right. Take care, Yasir. Bye-bye. Thank you, everyone. Bye-bye.

17:09Lisa Berm. Engineering by Eduardo Perez. Get three free months of Sirius XM when you sign up at SiriusXM.com slash Conan. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Conan O 'Brien Needs a Fan wherever fine podcasts are down.