The Tallest Thing in Marrakesh

0:03Conan O 'Brien needs a fan. Want to talk to Conan? Visit teamcoco.com slash call Conan. Okay, let's get started. Hi, Yasmina. Welcome to Conan O 'Brien Needs a Fan. Hey. Hi, Yasmina. How are you? I'm good. How are you guys? We are doing great. I think we're all's well here. I am excited to be talking to you because I'm told you're from Morocco. Is that right? I am from Morocco and I live in Brussels. You live in Brussels. Okay. But I'm from Morocco. You're from Morocco originally. And why did you go to Brussels? Is there a reason for that? I went to Brussels because medical school is cheap here.

0:45Oh. And the weather is really bad. I'm not paying for my studies. I'm done with medical school. I didn't pay, so I had to make the wise choice for my parents. Yes, I think you did the right thing. But do you miss Morocco? Let's talk about Morocco. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you from, where are you from in Morocco? So I'm from Marrakesh. Oh, Marrakesh. Okay. Yeah. I've never been to Morocco. I've never been to Marrakesh. If you're familiar with me at all, I assume you are because you've called in. You listen to the podcast. You familiar at all with the volume of work, the TV show, the clips. Yeah. Don't be attest.

1:32I'm aware of all the things. Of all the things. You're aware of all the things, she said, filled with shame. It's such a sad way to ask. Do you watch my show? Have you seen my show? Yeah. Well, I'm trying to. Do you watch my podcast? What do you like? What do you like that I do? This is all leading up to something crucial. Yes, I know. I can feel it. Yes, you can feel it. I'm very ominous. Yeah. It's very ominous, but I ask for a reason, which is then if you're familiar with me, maybe you have an opinion on what would be like if I came to Marrakesh. Would I be a natural? Do you think I would blend in well in Marrakesh and Morocco?

2:12You'd be the tallest thing there. Not even human. I'd be the tallest thing. You'd be the tallest everything. Wow. You'd also be the whitest everything. You don't have a mountain that's higher than six foot four inches? No. This is the mighty mountain. Greatest mountain we have is six foot two in its shoes. You'd be towering over everyone. Wow, okay. Well, I've never been to a country where I'm the tallest thing, including all inanimate objects and mountain ranges. OK, I'd be tall. Would I get along with the people in Marrakesh? I think you'd get along. People from Marrakesh tease a lot. So you wouldn't know whether they'd be like laughing with you or teasing you.

3:02there's a very fine line between bullying and yeah just joking around okay i sound like i'd be right at home yeah you found your people yeah first of all i don't care why people are laughing as long as they're laughing and if it's at me i'm just as happy uh and i i grew up uh being bullied and bullying so um i think i'm ready to go to marrakesh and yeah tell me about the culture I mean, I want to learn about Marrakesh. Okay, so the culture, so there's the Moroccan culture and then there's the Marrakesh sort of vibe, which is much lighthearted than the rest of the cities. We're very cool. We're chill.

3:49We don't really take ourselves seriously. Yeah. Which is perfect for you, I'm guessing. Yeah. And the culture is very open, to be honest. But then I was in an American school, so that's a bit weird because we had a little microcosm of people. But we still, Marrakesh is very open to everything. So you'd fit in perfectly. Just get maybe a little shorter. Okay, you're obsessed with my height. I think I can reach across this divide. I think it'll be okay. Like, I'll give you an example. If you were to wear what, like a traditional Moroccan man would wear, you'd wear this thing called a djelaba. A djelaba?

4:43Yeah. And it's like a long sweater.

4:49But you're so tall, it would fit like a mini skirt. I'd like to see that. I know. So now I'm picturing myself walking through Marrakesh, like through a bazaar, a market. Are there markets there? I'm guessing that's my image in my head. Maybe just based on movies and things. But walking through a market and I'm wearing a mini skirt and maybe high heels. And I have a clutch, a clutch bag and a little sassy hat. You'd have a nice leg tan with that. Wow. And what's the food like? I mean, what kind of food do you see me eating there? Okay, so we have a very diverse range of foods. I have a very good Irish friend who's, well, the main, I guess, like on Fridays, you'd eat something called couscous, which is like - Couscous, yes, we're all familiar with couscous.

5:49You're all familiar with couscous. Now you're going to say things, they're like, we have this strange dish called, and it's something that we eat all the time here in LA. Well, listen, couscous, you'd eat it on Friday, then you'd have these different types of tagines. But I know you're originally from Ireland. I have a very close Irish friend who thinks that couscous is crushed cardboard, like tastes like crushed cardboard. But I'm not going to be taking lessons from a guy whose ancestors fled because there was no more potatoes. Oh, snap! Shots fired! Okay, Yasmina, first of all, potato famine was quite a serious matter.

6:28there was literally no food to eat and that's why so many people left um but uh um no i uh you thought they left ireland just because they didn't like the taste of potatoes um but uh no i think first of all it was uh wrong for your irish friend well first of all i'm gonna start at the beginning there's a couple things you said there that are incorrect i am not from ireland i'm from boston massachusetts and um i said originally originally my people are from ireland but um that's the first thing second of all i don't think anyone from ireland should be dissing couscous um and saying it tastes like cardboard because uh you know it's just not it's not right and also plenty of dishes in ireland that taste like cardboard and are cardboard and quite good actually.

7:18Are they? Very good cardboard. I think what she's saying is you can't trust an Irishman's palate. I don't think she said that. Well, that's what I got and I agree with whatever. Yeah, Sona's right. That's what I meant. Give me a five. Best stew I've ever had was in Ireland. I'll say it right now. They made it with Guinness. It was delicious. Cabbage. There was no cabbage in there. No, but I would make you eat tajines. I'll be serious. Various tajines. Tagines. Furious tagines. An assortment of tagines. Yes. You'd have to be very good with your fingers because you have to pick up, like, have a piece of bread and sort of eat it with your finger.

7:59Yeah, I like it. I like it. It's very tactile. It's very... Are you getting creeped out? The way you said it. I'm going to be honest. I think it's very erotic to eat food with your hands and your fingers and be sucking on your fingers to get the sauces off. I'll get you a fork. It's very, no, no. I'll get you a fork or a spoon. I like you, Yasmina. I like you. And tell me, family? Do you have family in Marrakesh? Yeah. Okay. I have my parents who live in Marrakesh and my older brother lives in Marrakesh. Oh, cool. Well, went back to Marrakesh. she used to live. So you have parents and an older brother in Marrakesh.

8:48Yes. And a younger brother in Canada. In Canada. That's, so this is fascinating to me because if I did come and visit, I could meet your parents. I think it's important that I meet your parents. Yes. If we're going to eat finger food together, I should meet your, I should meet your parents first. Yes. And your brother. You have to ask permission. I have to ask permission to eat finger food. What are your intentions? What are your intentions? I'm going to eat some couscous with my fingers. Oh, not with those spiders. You're not.

9:33And I'd get along with your parents, right? Yeah, you'd get along with my parents. My mom would probably not understand you very well. She understands a bit of English, but not well. My dad, I think you could get along with him. Well, I use my body a lot and my face to convey all the day. Yeah, I'm very I do. I use I'm very expressive and I do well. I don't need English to communicate with people. I kill with two year old kids. I do great. And so with your parents, I think I would be able to, first of all, I would have their attention because I'm the biggest thing they've ever seen. And then I would use my body a lot and I would tell great tales using my flailing limbs.

10:17Exactly. You'd probably break the house because it's so tiny. It's a small house. Yeah, I'd have to pick it up and put it over my head and look around. Yeah. But yeah, you'd get along even with my mother. Yeah, no problem. Yeah. What do you keep saying even with your mother? Is your mother tough? Um, no, I mean, you could, she wouldn't understand everything you said, but I think you could get along, you know, just with sign language. I don't know. Yeah. Whatever your talents are. Whatever my talents are. Like if you can speak with your hands. Yasmina, you're talking to Conan O 'Brien here and you're saying whatever your talents are.

10:59What is that? What is that?

11:05Wow. All right. Well, this is, I mean, this is exciting. I think Morocco is a place I've never been. And I could see myself, you know, oh, would I ride a camel in Morocco? um well they have these tourist spots where they have like three four camels where you can i mean you could bond with them because they might think you're also a camel because they're also big and they have they have long legs short torso ginger i mean so you think i'm a camel No, I mean, they might... Camels might think you're camels. They might try to mate with you. You could bond with them. Right. You think a camel might try to mate with me because it thinks I'm another camel.

11:56No, no. If I'm wearing a miniskirt... And you're doing your erotic finger frames. If I'm wearing a miniskirt and I'm doing my erotic couscous, you know, eating with my fingers, I could see a camel sidling up to me and going... Yeah, there you are. Exactly.

12:17You could bond with the camels. You could talk about world affairs, world politics. I don't know. I don't know what camels talk about. Well, I do. It's time you listen. I like that this plan is all fine. Except what you talk about is up to you. Because that part I don't know. What you talk to the camels about is your business. I don't know what camels talk about. I love that. I have to say the idea of me going to say a market in Morocco feels a little intimidating because I think they're used to it's the haggling culture. Right. It's the you have to try and get a bargain. I would be very intimidated.

12:54And I also they might spot me as someone who they can take advantage of because I look stupid. Yeah. No, you just you don't look stupid. But you look you look different. So they'd be like, hmm. How did this camel get here? I can sell this camel anything. This camel doesn't know. So could you help me if I was in a market? Let's say I was in a market in Morocco, in Marrakesh, and it's a busy, you know, and people are trying to take advantage of me because they think I'm a camel that wandered in. Would you be able to help me in those situations? I would definitely be able to help you Because basically what tourists do in general is they would, for instance, I want to sell this pen to you.

13:47And you'd say, how much is this pen? And I'd say, well, it's a thousand dollars. And you'd go, that's a bit much. Can you make it like 900? Wrong. That's not what you're supposed to say. If they say this is a thousand, you have to go, well, I'll give you zero. Nothing. I want it for free. And then they would go, oh, well, that's a little exaggerated. Maybe I'll sell it for like 500. Tourists go, if it's 1 ,000, they go, eh, 900. And then the other guy would go 950, 950. You really have to go really low. But really go to zero? I'm going to go to zero? Okay, you can say like one or something. But you really have to make it the least possible.

14:36Like almost insulting. Yes. What I'm going to do, I'm going to actually say things like, that's the worst lamp I've ever seen. I hate that lamp and I would never want that lamp in my house. I loathe that lamp. I despise it. It makes me want to vomit. Yeah, I think you should break it as well. I want to smash it to pieces. And then I start with that and then I say, but I might, might take it. And he goes,$1 ,000 and you go, I'll take it. Yeah. But also what you could do. I mean, 1 ,200. Yeah. Okay. How about 15? Okay. Not 12, 17. 18. Oh, my God. This camel's made of money over here. Yeah. What do you think's in the hump, dude?

15:18What you could do is tell me I want that, and then I can just walk in, say it in Arabic, and he'll sell it for the real price. So I should just lay low. I should hide under some carpets or something, and you should go and do all the haggling. But how do you know Yasmina is not conning you or hustling you? She might be in with this guy. It's true. Yasmina, can we trust you?

15:45Yasmina, what do you do, by the way? I don't know what you do. I'm a doctor. You're a doctor. That's very impressive. It's all right, yeah. Well, what kind of doctor are you? I'm a radiologist. So like a fake doctor. Why is radiologist a fake? That sounds very cool to me. Because we can't, we don't know medicine. We don't know how to treat. We just go, oh, that's not good. That's all you do. Even when it is good, you go, that's not good. Yeah, or like if we see a foot, we just say foot. But no, no, no. Who's going to be a doctor to find out, is this indeed my foot? Yes, it's your foot. No, we can just go, it's broken.

16:28We go, it's broken. How do I fix it? I don't know. Okay, so, yeah. But you look at bones all the time, right? No, so I'm a radiologist, and I work mainly in abdominal radiology. Mm.

16:48And what do you call it in English? Breast imaging. Oh. Okay, well, that's very important. It's crucial. Yeah. Are you worried at all about being replaced by AI? Do they say that's going to happen in radiology? Yes. I'm worried. Well, not for me because it's not a thing that's happening right this second in my hospital. But it might be an issue in the coming years. But I don't care because I'll be retired by then. Okay. You're retiring in six months. You look pretty young. That's incredible. I know I've been replaced by AI this is an AI Conan you're talking to right now yes this is an AI Yasmina you're talking to very nice I knew there was something I liked about you we share a synthetic quality I like you Yasmina and you're very funny and I think you're a fine representative of Marrakesh Morocco and I do hope one day I get to meet your parents eat finger foods in front of them um we'll get you a fork yeah and then go out and find a camel to mess around with um this has been lovely talking to you and thank you for thank you for reaching out to us that's really nice i love it when people from other countries that were places i've never been uh reach out to us it's really fun thanks also you don't look like a belgian woman you keep saying you look like a beautiful belgian woman from behind i heard you say that but you don't no Oh, thank you very much.

18:29Saying I don't look like a woman is the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. You look like a Belgian camel. Yeah. Well, thank you very much for that. And I hope our paths cross sometime in the future. I hope so too. Okay. If Trump lets me in, I mean his problem. Oh, yeah. Oh, snap. Yeah, yeah. He's a big fan of yours. All right. All right, take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Take care. Conan O 'Brien needs a fan. with Conan O 'Brien, Sonam Ovcesian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Leow. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.

19:10Supervising producer, Aaron Blair. Associate talent producer, Jennifer Samples. Associate producers, Sean Doherty and Lisa 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.