Travis' Return, Mama Kelce Renovates & Conan O’Brien on Oscars Prep, Favorite Jokes & More | EP 182

8:33Jason Kelce:I just really want to know what the advertisement is for. Like, what do we, it's got to be an HGTV show, right?

8:39Travis Kelce:No chance.

8:40Jason Kelce:There's no chance they're putting out a TMZ article unless there's some type of, like, advertisement of some sort tied to it. No chance. All right.

8:49Travis Kelce:I promise you. So what happens is when your mom turns into reality TV.

8:54Jason Kelce:She's done it big time. She's on Traders, Remodeling Her Home Now.

8:57Travis Kelce:So proud of her.

8:58Jason Kelce:It is impressive.

8:59Travis Kelce:She's done it with grace.

9:01Jason Kelce:You've changed, Mom.

9:05Travis Kelce:don't you do that to her well if you need uh any extra hard-working men you got two of them sitting here waiting to help you out yep they're right over at the home depot they're very good i got them on speed dial she doesn't want us replacing anything we're gonna fuck it up

9:25Jason Kelce:she'll have to replace nine other windows why because we'll install them all the wrong i don't not install a fucking window put that fucker in there i don't think that's how you gotta like nail it down make that you gotta make that thing airtight especially kind of window she's getting

9:37Travis Kelce:yeah we're gonna need a we're gonna need a ruler the old kelsey way i got i learned you asked have

9:43Jason Kelce:you asked mom about this have you have you talked to her about since this came out no i have no idea

9:47Travis Kelce:what this should we ask her right now yeah let's call her let's see how baffled she is that anybody even knows this how fucking good would it be if she isn't doing this at all i bet you a thousand dollars it isn't htt mom yes we are doing the podcast right now i'm on with travis

10:08Jason Kelce:yeah he's he just said hi we are wondering this tweet that has taken the world by storm

10:17Travis Kelce:i know even tmz you know like sent me a text and said can you be on this is really funny I'm like, it's so stupid. They probably pulled a permit because they're coming on Monday to put my windows and doors in.

10:34Jason Kelce:Is it like an HGTV show or is this just like a legitimate random?

10:39Travis Kelce:No, no. All I'm doing is my people are coming to put in my windows on Monday. Oh, nice. Well, at least you're not doing it yourself, mom.

10:49Jason Kelce:Wait, you're doing 16 windows? The article says nine.

10:52Travis Kelce:It's because you know my whole apartment is all windows. It's windows all the way around the house.

10:58Jason Kelce:What do you replace? Are you going bulletproof? What's happening here? What are we replacing the windows in?

11:02Travis Kelce:Are you going bulletproof as a beggar? This year, it got so cold down here. It was in the 30s. And I literally had sweat coming down the windows in pools of water in my living room because it couldn't handle it. These are cheap windows that were put in 20 years ago. These damn Floridians. they don't know about the old midwest windows and i'm like i'm not doing this again i'm putting in new windows so i called uh south and told them i wanted them to put some windows in and this is the day that was my day you know the 16th and so that's next week yeah they'll be here for three days and they're putting windows in so that's it period well i just wanted to say mom i they said

11:45Jason Kelce:modest home and i just it feels like you're turning this place into a bit of a gilded palace if I must say. So I think you've changed a little bit. I think you've had a taste of the good life, and now all of a sudden, what? Yeah.

12:00Travis Kelce:You know me. I'm so, you know, I am so, like, logical. I know, Bob. And it's like I'm doing something so that I can save money on heating and air conditioning and to keep my windows from sweating. That's as simple as it is.

12:16Jason Kelce:I know, I know. We're just having fun with it, too. It's amazing. It is hilarious in an awesome way. We love you.

12:25Travis Kelce:And then, you know what Disney did? Disney Parks went out there and said they took a picture of Cinderella's castle, and they said, this is not what Mama Kelsey is going to be renovating her mom's house into. And so I tweeted back and said, that's correct. This is not what I'm doing. It's not what you're going for. Yeah, I spent almost as much time there, but I said no. But I consider it my second home.

12:56Jason Kelce:Well, while they're remodeling the home, maybe Disney will let you stay in the palace as the queen that you are.

13:04Travis Kelce:I think it's so funny. Aren't there terrible things happening in the world right now?

13:10Jason Kelce:Okay, we don't need to talk about that. We don't need to talk about that. I love you, Mama. Love you, Mom. Bye. Travis is screaming, I love you too as well.

13:17Travis Kelce:Oh, tell Travis. I'm so happy he's going back. I'm thrilled for another year.

13:23Jason Kelce:I love you. As long as mom approves from doing the right things. Say bye to mom. Bye. No, she didn't.

13:31Travis Kelce:Yeah, can't wait to see what mom's house looks like. All golden windows and bulletproof glass and all.

13:38Jason Kelce:I mean, the TMZ article got 24 million views.

13:41Travis Kelce:Oh.

13:42Jason Kelce:Insane. In the membrane. Insane in the brain. sorry all right let's get to the actual uh biggest news coming out Travis is coming back for year 14 we talked about a little bit up front um yeah Trav yeah what uh how we feeling how we feeling

13:57Travis Kelce:you know feeling good about the decision I'm feeling excited um been texting with a few of the guys on the team uh just you know ready to get this thing fucking going man it's uh as you know it's it's not a just in season thing it's something that I truly believe you need an entire off season to get the body of the mind ready for training camp alone and then training camp you start to get that wear and tear and like you kind of build your own armor of toughness to like get you through the season it's a year-long thing that uh that i'm excited to get going and i'm excited to be around the guys when otas come around and to start to really mold this team and get that get that mentality back to where it needs to be uh that that determination that that's that you know expectations of excellence every single day and uh and do it in our own way where we show

14:47Jason Kelce:our personality we get this thing fucking rolling dude i'm excited to see it i'm i'm as a fan of my brother and as someone who loves watching you play i can't wait to watch you play for another season very excited also about the kenneth walker signing because that guy is a beast can't wait to meet the

15:06Travis Kelce:old Super Bowl MVP. God, man, that guy is just fucking unbelievable, man.

15:12Jason Kelce:He was explosive all year round and when Charbonnet went down he really got the chance to be the featured guy for the most part, like, upping that carry load. Because you always wonder, sometimes these explosive guys, when they get the full workload, if it's still got that pop. And it still had that pop, baby.

15:27Travis Kelce:Come on now. Come on now.

15:29Jason Kelce:I'm not the only guy excited for you. Your teammates are all posting stuff. Patrick Mahone was posting a carousel. um she's uh what is what is this alarm clock in the plane what's that mean uh this is not a plane that's uh it's a bow and arrow ah typical travis kelsey kansas city chief celebration then we had chris jones on twitter we are so back a lot of people pumped up a lot

15:54Travis Kelce:of people pumped up man i'm just as excited to be joining forces with those two guys man and I think we all kind of had talks at the end of the season. Like I said, I was always pretty optimistic that I was coming back. A lot of people in the building knew that, but wanted to kind of give it some time and refocus it and let the Chiefs make some moves and figure out a lot of things first to make us an all-around better team. But then, you know, we kind of talked about some of these things as the season ended. Like, man, how are we going to never let it get to this fucking point again? and I think we're all three, especially us three right there, kind of being at the helm and being here the longest and feeling like we have the most leadership and accountability on the team in that aspect.

16:43Travis Kelce:So excited to get back to the building with my guys and get this thing cooking.

16:47Jason Kelce:Well, we just mentioned Kenneth Walker on offense. Obviously, the offense has gotten better, it would appear, through the first short stint of free agency, but we have lost some defensive players. Trent McDuffie signs a huge contract.

16:59Travis Kelce:There were a few guys signed some big contracts. Trent McDuffie went to the Rams. My guy, Jalen Watson, paper cups, went to the Rams. They got two unbelievable corners and guys that are going to fucking come into work every single day. I'm happy both of those guys got paid. And then on top of that, we got Brian Cook, B. Cook over to Cincinnati. He's back home representing Cincinnati in the hometown for the Bengals. Also got paid. And obviously you're happy for these guys, but man, you hate to see them go because of how much you love playing with them and all the blood, sweat that you put into the offseason and during the season with them.

17:33Travis Kelce:So it's tough to see these guys go elsewhere, but I'm happy these guys are making, you know, lifetime money.

17:41Jason Kelce:It's insane because I was thinking about this the other day. The defense has really been outstanding for the Chiefs the past three seasons, right? Like what Spags and that group has done has been fantastic. And the backfield is completely overhauled, right? Like, with Trent McDuffie leaving, now Cooks. Like, last year, Justin Reed leaves. Then the year before that, oh, my God, Titans.

18:03Travis Kelce:Oh, you're talking about LeJaria Sneed? Sneed, yep. I got Sneed, man.

18:08Jason Kelce:Yeah, it's had a large transformation. It'll be interesting to see how they retooled that area. I mean, Spags is as good as it gets. I don't know. You got to make choices, right? And offensively, we needed some more firepower. They go out and get Kenneth Walker. So going to have to have some young guys step up.

18:26Travis Kelce:You ain't lying. And, you know, Spags we trust, baby. He's unbelievable. I know Dave Merritt, our DB's coach, is unbelievable at getting the guys going over there and understanding the system. He's been with them since he was in New York, and he's been with Spags since he was in New York. So they're quite the duo. And we still got some guys in that room that can play some ball now. I know they're going to have to step up and become more of an every-down corner, but I'm excited to see it happen, man, one being Noel Williams.

18:57Jason Kelce:Well, there's some other free agency news as well for the Eagles. We extended Jordan Davis three years,$78 million, including$65 million guaranteed. I thought this was an outstanding extension. Jordan Davis really came on this last year. Yeah, he was awesome. Very strong. He had an outstanding season, was in the best shape of his career, I'm just so happy for this guy.

19:18Travis Kelce:He just seemed like a great fucking dude, man.

19:20Jason Kelce:He's an awesome dude, but he's matured so much. He came in with this youthful, just like he's a giant kid, man. And he still has that enthusiasm and nature to him. Like he is a big kid, but now he's grown into it, right? And he's accountable. He plays and practices hard. He does everything right. And you always love whenever guys like that get rewarded. So congratulations, Jordan Davis. That is life-changing money, quite literally unreal. Eagles, we did lose, unfortunately. Jalen Phillips to the Panthers signed a four-year, $120 million contract with$80 guaranteed. God damn. What? Dude, the numbers this year have been astronomical in free agency.

20:05Jason Kelce:So we're going to talk about it a couple of times because there's some other crazy numbers I also want to bring up. I think that there's a reason these numbers are getting to the level they are. One, because they're really good players. But I think people underestimate how much the salary cap is going to continue to go up in the NFL. Let's talk about we also lost one of the exciting whites. We are now down to the exciting white on defense. Reed Blankenship is signed with the Houston Texans on a three-year,$24.75 million deal. Congratulations to Reed, awesome teammate, and was a big part of our success since he was with the Philadelphia Eagles for four years.

20:41Jason Kelce:Congratulations. And here's some of these other numbers. Centers are getting fucking paid. chargers signed tyler biedez three years 30 bills signed conor mcgovern to a four-year 52 million dollar deal but the big one everybody's talking about is tyler lindenbaum three years 81 million this dude's making over 25 million a year at the center position i don't think people realize

21:01Travis Kelce:how fucking crazy high that is he's just jumped 10 million dollars the market was at what 16 17 I think actually I think Reed's Creed got up to 18 right so when I left the the year yeah before

21:16Jason Kelce:Creed signed his deal at 18 I was making the most on a per year basis 15 at four it was 14 and a

21:22Travis Kelce:half I had I had upside to get to 15 I think we're a half glass full kind of family Jason there you

21:27Jason Kelce:go there you go um and even that was pretty high and I think what is Creed reset the market at 18 and then Tyler Lindenbaum in just one year has reset that by$9 million. And one, Tyler Lindenbaum is incredible. He fits the scheme perfectly. They're going to run that Kubiak system down there. And in order to run that system, having a center that is really, really good makes outside zone systems go. You need that. You go back to the Denver Broncos with Mike Shanahan, you have Tom Nalen. If you have a guy at the pivot position that can reach a nose guard and get to the second level, it makes a big difference in that run game.

22:01Jason Kelce:But beside that, all of these numbers that have been released this year have been very high. And I think it's a clear indicator. The NFL salary cap is going to continue to go up. These teams are banking on the salary cap rising each and every year. They know the media contracts are being negotiated right now between the NFL and all of these media companies. And it's the biggest thing that any of these networks can afford.

22:26Travis Kelce:Over the past two years, it's gone up 40 mil just these past two years. Last year, I think it went up 30. This year, it went up 22.

22:33Jason Kelce:But what I'm saying is most of the money that dictates the salary gap are the media contracts.

22:39Travis Kelce:100%.

22:39Jason Kelce:It's gone up 40 million the last couple years, or went up 40 million last year. What was it this year? You said 20-something?

22:46Travis Kelce:So, yeah, last year was like 30-something. This year is 22.

22:50Jason Kelce:Yeah, so it did that without redoing the media contracts. That's just in revenue going up across the league. What's going to drastically change it is the NBA redid their media contracts a few years ago without the revenue really going up. Like the viewership and everything stayed stagnant, but these networks need sports to survive. So they spent huge on the NBA media contracts. I really do believe that this is NFL teams knowing these media contracts that they're coming and renegotiating right now are going to be astronomically higher than they are right now. I think we're going to start seeing absurd numbers.

23:27Jason Kelce:I mean, these are already crazy.

23:28Travis Kelce:My God, Duffy is getting 30 a year.

23:30Jason Kelce:You look four or five years down the line. You're going to start seeing close to, I wouldn't be surprised, but in the next 10 years, you see a quarterback getting like a billion dollar contract. I'm not messing with you. Because look at what Pat signed.

23:45Travis Kelce:Pat signed a$500 million deal, right? Basically. I think it was just under five. I think you're right. I think it was a little bit over five, actually.

23:52Jason Kelce:Within 10 years, the media contracts are all going to double. Now, it's going to be a long-term deal.

23:57Travis Kelce:This was a 10-year deal, yeah.

23:58Jason Kelce:You're going to see quarterbacks making close to$100 million a year, I bet. It is crazy what these media contracts are going to. The networks have to have the sport because the NFL rules all of the viewership numbers. It's what all the marketers want. It's how these networks are surviving right now. They're going to get desperate to have this content. Fox, CBS, they're all freaking competing against each other. They know these numbers are going to be ridiculous in four or five years. And they're starting to try and renegotiate them early. So it might even happen earlier. I don't know, man. I think this is a clear sign as any that all of these teams know the salary cap is going to be outrageous in four or five years.

24:37Travis Kelce:And that's all we got for this week in NFL free agency. That's been a new news, Jason. We got out of the house and hit TGL, man. Yeah, baby, yeah. hell how fucking awesome was that well you yeah you had quite a blast you were there what three days in a row three days sunday monday tuesday yep and to be honest i'm not gonna lie i thought it was fascinating the stuff that you were doing where you were going underneath you were showing the locker rooms with the players uh have at their disposal out there also the technology that goes into all this stuff the recovery the the workout rooms and everything it is a fascinating environment

25:16Jason Kelce:over there and that's exactly what they brought me over to do i think a lot of times watching you know on tv you don't realize the technological and i'm telling i'm telling you right now

25:26Travis Kelce:i was blown away in person seeing that place in person like let alone you don't understand what you're what you're about to say but seeing that place in person and being in the arena is a night and day uh difference than being and watching it on tv for sure on tv it doesn't i mean it looks

25:42Jason Kelce:good but when you're there in person you really get an accurate representation for the scale of

25:46Travis Kelce:it i mean it's enormous facility that screen is gigantic it's huge the green is huge and it moves

25:52Jason Kelce:and changes and the technology and you know the innovation put into that place is just state of the art and i had an opportunity to go down there uh and show that off and i just first of all i was excited to see it because the whole golf world has been talking about this facility down there and so far so i'm like dude i i would love to go check it out and got the chance to see how the green works going underneath that uh got a chance to hit on the simulator and got a chance to watch some of the best golfers in the world hit in front of a grandstand full of people i mean i will buy

26:25Travis Kelce:that ticket every day of the week honestly i will buy that ticket to see my guy uh minwoo absolutely ripping the fucking ball.

26:36Jason Kelce:I got a nice little chipping lesson from Minwoo. Yeah, what did he tell you?

26:40Travis Kelce:Because you actually look like you actually kind of took something out of that. Yeah.

26:44Jason Kelce:So I feel like when I'm chipping a lot of times, I try to take my hands out of it as much as I can and just make it like a pendulum, almost like your putting type thing. And he was like, dude, it's making you too stiff. You got to be more like, you got to have a little bit of release. It's not like a full swing, but it's got to be more fluid And so he was giving me some great advice. I was like taking it on a hand and kind of swinging it. Then he was just kind of getting me to release the club still, even when I'm chipping. And right away, you can see how much more feel. When my hands aren't involved at all, it's hard for me to gauge the feel of hitting the ball.

27:20Jason Kelce:The moment, for whatever reason, when I start to incorporate my wrist just a little bit, I feel like I can gauge speed better chipping and really putting too. Like, there's something about my hands being involved that I have a better feel. So it was great. I would love to take more lessons from you, Min Woo. I don't know if you got time. I know you're busy winning all sorts of championships and whatnot.

27:42Travis Kelce:Yeah, I think he was top 10 over at Arnie's place this week. There we go. Last I looked, he was.

27:47Jason Kelce:Going to start putting some money down on Min Woo. And then Tom Kim hitting the hole-in-one to win and claw their way back from a major deficit. My dog, TK! and make the playoffs was pretty freaking epic.

27:59Travis Kelce:Dude, it was so fucking lit in that goddamn arena when he made that, dude. It was so fun, man.

28:06Jason Kelce:Before we were getting ready to do that show that day, they were like, hey, Jason, we're thinking about putting you back up in the lift for those holes. And I'm like, dude, guys, I'm happy we did the lift thing, but honestly, it was terrifying. I don't want to go back up there.

28:18Travis Kelce:That was a one and done thing right there.

28:20Jason Kelce:And they said, okay, what if we do some fun bit where like, hey, you've had a long week. We're going to show off the cold tub. You get in the cold tub to ice down your legs and recover from a long week at TGL. I'm like, oh, yeah, that sounds good. So when that happened, I'm in the locker room in my bathing suit, about to do a COVID thing, trying to even get to see it in person.

28:37Travis Kelce:Damn it.

28:38Jason Kelce:I just hear the whole place erupt, and I'm like, dude, what just happened? And we pull it up on the phone, and we see that Kim hit a hole-in-one, and they're like, all right, we're about to cut to the cold plunge thing at the next break. I'm like, there's no way they're going to come in here. No way. They morons. There's so much shit happening out there. Keep it on the guys. Keep it on the guys. Keep it on the guys. But the lead producer, Jeff, gave me a good ribbing. He's like, yeah, I bet you would have liked to have been in the lift when that happened as opposed to in the locker room. I'm like, yeah, you're probably right.

29:09Jason Kelce:But it was an epic week. Got to, you know, talk to Tiger Woods. It was just, it was so cool being down there talking with Homa and Min Woo.

29:21Travis Kelce:Max. Max was such a good dude. Dude, he was enjoying himself after that win.

29:25Jason Kelce:No doubt. No doubt. So it was a great week. And we got to play golf together. I got to see you, Trav. It was just a very fun three days, especially in Florida, out of the bitter snow that we had that week in Philadelphia. So, yeah.

29:41Travis Kelce:I'm saying it right now. We got to do a live event. We got to do it, dude. We got to do it, man.

29:45Jason Kelce:You're talking about at TGL.

29:47Travis Kelce:We have to. If they let us. I don't know what that costs. If they let us around that much technology. and and now i think we can feel that i think we can fill the seats man i think it's uh it's such a cool atmosphere i think there's a way we could we could have some fun with it bring it because everybody fucking golfs man and don't get me wrong we're we're no professionals but yeah but it's it's it's fun to compete uh and it's fun to fucking be on a live stage like that in such a unique atmosphere and i think uh i think we could we could put something together and get some things brewing uh just in the nfl world let alone if we start crossing leagues and and bringing other

30:25Jason Kelce:guys into it well i do got to ask you you you saw my golf game uh for three days basically two days are you getting nervous about our tahoe no what i thought i was playing pretty good

30:38Travis Kelce:you are pretty good you are playing pretty good that doesn't mean you're gonna get into positives

30:44Jason Kelce:All right, Trev.

30:46Travis Kelce:You're not 30 strokes better than what you were. I don't need to be 30 strokes. You're right. It's not 30 strokes. I'm sorry. Yeah. You're not. You're not. You're not not.

30:57Jason Kelce:If you break 80, you're going to be in the positive. You think you're breaking 80? I think I'm going to be able to break 80. Yeah, I do. All I got to do is fix up the short game.

31:08Travis Kelce:I got it. Get rid of that fucking putter, dude. You get rid of that putter, I might start shaking in my boots. you get rid of that putter i might start shaking in my boots i'm doing it with that freaking

31:20Jason Kelce:peanut putter whatever you want to call it that bullseye staying in the bag you don't even know

31:24Travis Kelce:that bullseye you don't you don't even know where to hit it on the club to hit it consistently yes

31:31Jason Kelce:i do yes i do i just miss it sometimes i know where to hit it i just don't hit it where i'm trying to hit it sometimes it's a small aim small miss small type thing it's a small sweet spot

31:41Travis Kelce:it's gonna be fun it's gonna be fun there is no chance you're breaking 80 with that putter

31:47Jason Kelce:all right well we shall see i have never been more confident just let me put it let me say that

31:54Travis Kelce:to be fair breaking 80 one day isn't gonna get you into the positives yes it is well it will

32:00Jason Kelce:for a day i mean if you do it all three days you'll be in the positive but yeah breaking 80 by that stable forward scoring will probably be in the positive. For sure. Because if you're breaking 80, you're only getting a handful of double bogey.

32:15Travis Kelce:But you've got to do it three days in a row.

32:17Jason Kelce:That's the thing. Yeah, you would have to break 80 all three days to be in the positive. But you can do it without breaking 82. Really, as long as you eliminate doubles, you can be in the positive fairly easily in the stable forward scoring.

32:29Travis Kelce:I don't know, man. Because a par is a point. Well, I guess, yeah. Bogey is even. Bogey is nothing. So you really, the doubles are the ones.

32:38Jason Kelce:And the things that give me doubles are the drives, which I think you'll agree. My drive was on point this week. I got that thing figured out with that blue shaft. I was up there fucking living it.

32:50Travis Kelce:Counts, it counts. Yeah, it does. It definitely does. All right, well, that does it for new news. Shout out to everybody at TGL for making that absolutely epic. And shout out to all the NFL teams making moves in the offseason. Once again, new news brought to you by American Express. Shout out to American Express. All right, let's keep this thing moving before we get to Conan. 92 %ers, it's March, and you know what that means. We are officially running it back with the New Heights Reese's March Madness Bracket Challenge. That's right. Yes, sir. So we need all you guys to enter and give your best bracket.

33:24Travis Kelce:Jason, have you been watching any basketball?

33:27Jason Kelce:I have not. As typical, I am knee-deep in football stuff for the most of the basketball season. so I just don't see a lot of college basketball. I would love to offer my expertise, though, on who to pick. So look for that, which is usually based on height. Or asking. I might ask an expert this year. I might not even. I might just go completely off of somebody else's opinions. Okay. All right. I got somebody that I know that knows a lot about women's basketball.

33:56Travis Kelce:Ooh. Who do you know?

33:59Jason Kelce:Not saying any names.

34:00Travis Kelce:Not saying any names. Ooh. He's scared to tell us. he's he's he's lying just don't want to put him on the spot don't want to put him on the spot all right well i watched a quite a bit of men's basketball um and uh i know that cincinnati is on the bubble right now come on bear catch we shall see i know miami of ohio is uh undefeated and uh that's about as far as i could tell jason if you're gonna cheat and ask people for opinions so wait that's cheating that's cheating yeah doing research is cheating yes do your own fucking research cite your fucking sources if you're not gonna fucking tell us your source i'll tell you i'll tell you i'll tell you i will i will tell you my sources jake won the bracket

34:48Travis Kelce:way to send it way to send it um and uh yeah jake won it last year but no chance he wins it this year zero men's and women's brackets open on selection sunday march 15th next week uh we will make our final four picks and share the links to um participate in our bracket challenge so this year the winners will get a swag bag uh with signed new heights merch and reese's cups you think we ran out of gold cups jason we can get some more well i mean they can make more of

35:21Jason Kelce:You know where to get them? I think they at least got to get another gold cup. Yeah, we can get more gold cups. Yeah, let's get some more gold cups. I don't know.

35:26Travis Kelce:I still don't have a gold cup, so why don't we get a few of those? All right, I will get you a gold cup. I love it. Can I get it embroidered?

35:33Jason Kelce:Travis, I'll pay for it right from the New Heights account. Both of our names. Yeah, we can definitely. We can do it. We can do that. We can get you a cup. We can get the winner of this a cup. Those cups are expensive. They do cost over$10 ,000. It is gold-plated. Oh, yeah. It's a big deal. It's a big deal. And it's a fun thing to take to a party and chug beers out of.

35:54Travis Kelce:I've also used it as a casino chips cup. You put your chips in that cup.

35:58Jason Kelce:It is a good luck. I have done very well at the casino with my gold cup. There's no question.

36:02Travis Kelce:There you go. All right. Now, once again, thank you to our friends at Reese's for teaming up for this March Madness bracket challenge. May the best 92 %er win. Let's get to our conversation with Conan O 'Brien, ladies and gentlemen.

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37:11Travis Kelce:The more we travel, the more we care about taking it slow.

37:15Jason Kelce:Yep, there's nothing like having time to take your time. Vacation mode is a real thing.

37:21Travis Kelce:And honestly, that feeling, it should stay with you from the minute you start your trip to the minute you get back home.

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38:09Travis Kelce:Terms apply. Learn more at AmericanExpress.com slash with Platinum. Oh my God. We rolling guys?

38:22Conan O’Brien:We're rolling. Guys meet six feet, four inches. Yeah. 90 pounds of pure Irish magic. That's what I'm talking about. I wish I was there in person because I would physically intimidate you both. I wouldn't be able to take it. You just wouldn't be able to. It's too much. It's a lot of man right here talking to you guys, but try and control yourselves. How are you both? Doing good. Dude, absolutely fantastic, man. Thank you for the time. Thanks for having me on.

39:01Jason Kelce:You're preparing for the Oscars. How much of that team overlaps with what you do with Team Coco and Late Night? Is it completely separate?

39:10Conan O’Brien:No, there's a lot of overlap. A lot of these are writers that I've used before. They've worked with me for years. I mean, I've been at this forever. I have all my favorite writers come in for this, and we just get a room going. it's not probably unlike your world where it's all about preparation. So we get people together and we start a couple of months ago and we just start working and we have a room that goes all the time and I drop in and out of it. I usually just waste their time. I do all this bullshit. i i get them laughing but it's not in any way productive for the vibe you always got a vibe check exactly that's what it is it's a lot of vibe check so that's just fun that's that part is probably my favorite part the two things i miss the most when i'm not working on a project like this or doing a late night show is the band and the writers you're so in sync with the band

40:17Travis Kelce:specifically the drummer i mean the intros to the late night are some of my favorite like showman work of all time i mean well the hips with the high hats are you kidding me the the the the

40:33Conan O’Brien:coattails to the yes yes yes the nipple the nipple twisting uh yeah you know this was my version of an end zone dance you know like that was my uh i i always you know was thinking if i ever did somehow accidentally get thrown into a game and managed to catch uh a football in the end zone it would be the string dance and then the nipples and then i'd probably be it probably the nipples would get me tossed probably i don't think you're allowed to do that you'd probably get you a little fine. It'd be at least 15 yards. All right. Well, you know, it's maybe worth it. Maybe worth it. It is.

41:15Jason Kelce:Hey, if you get in that end zone, you can do whatever you want.

41:17Travis Kelce:Exactly.

41:17Jason Kelce:We're going to talk more about this. We're going to do the intro real quick, though, because I know we got it in the show with all the Oscar prep and everything.

41:23Conan O’Brien:Whatever you guys want to do. Whatever you want to do. You're the man, dude. Here we go.

41:27Jason Kelce:All right. Our guest today is a 6 '4 comedian, writer, and fellow podcaster out of Brookline, Massachusetts. He graduated Magnum. Come on. From a small state school just outside of Boston, he is a six-time Emmy winner, winner of the 2025 Mark Twain Prize for humor. Yeah, baby. You might know him from his time as the host of the hip podcast, Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend, or as the host of the Emmy Award-winning travel series, Conan O 'Brien. Let's go. Or from his 16-year stint as the host of Late Night with Conan O 'Brien. He is the man that gives the world comedy classics such as Pimpot, Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog, Masturbating Bear, and Andy Richter.

42:07Jason Kelce:And this Sunday, he is back for his second time hosting the Academy Awards. 92 % please welcome the largest Irishman I know now, Conan O 'Brien.

42:17Conan O’Brien:My God, I've been waiting for that intro. Hey, Jason, are you available to do my intro for the Oscars? Are you available?

42:29Conan O’Brien:Be careful what you throw out there, Conan. If you did that, first of all, it would be way too long. the oscar people would be so pissed the band's playing kelsey nation would be going crazy our people would be tuning in to the oscars for the first time hey absolute honor to be here and i do want to stress if you saw me in person you'd have i'd have nothing but mad respect from both of you because i am a physical I am a specimen I'm a physical specimen and a lot of people don't know that because I act like such a fool

43:06Travis Kelce:the hair is a golden red right now that top piece is looking fantastic

43:12Conan O’Brien:isn't that beautiful I have so many wigs for every occasion

43:20Conan O’Brien:don't you envy my wife she sees this orange sherbert lying on the pillow next to her she's so thrilled and also So everyone here in my world, Team Coco, so excited that I'm doing this, that I've got fans sitting in right now, huge Chiefs fans, Tanisha and Buddy. Just jump over here. Can you see them? Let's go! Come on over here. I mean, these are fanatic. And get in here. Get in close. Right around me. There they are. Oh, check out the jersey! All they do is talk about the damn Chiefs. And by the way, no offense, I'm a Patriots guy, born and raised. Had a feeling. Yeah, sorry about that.

44:07Travis Kelce:Not a terrible situation to be in as a Patriots fan.

44:10Conan O’Brien:Not a terrible situation to be in. And then, you know, I wanted to get some Eagles fans in here, but they're too violent. They're just, you know. You got to go down to the courthouse to find some of those. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. If we had Eagles fans in here, they would be tearing out the equipment and throwing it at me. I'm terrified of an Eagles fan. Much respect, but they frighten me. They're so intense. But guys, it's a huge treat. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

44:37Jason Kelce:The treat is all ours. I mean, I can't tell you how much we watched you all growing up and we've followed. I mean, I played hockey growing up and we would go and have sleepovers when we were younger. And we're like, I mean, middle school at this time. And we would stay up, play video games and purposely stay up just to watch Late Night with Conan O 'Brien.

44:53Conan O’Brien:Every time. And see the Walker Texas Ranger lever. Well, the Walker Texas Ranger lever was one of my favorite things ever. Ever. I was ever. And it's one of the things I'm most happy about. And then they made us stop doing it because the because they said that we're playing all these clips and there's actors in those clips. And they said to me, you know, the actors are starting to notice you're playing these clips and you're not paying them and they're going to come after you. Boom. And so we got to cut it down. and I was so, I went into a depression because it was my favorite thing. And then I said to my producer, I wanted to, and to my lawyer, I want to take this to trial.

45:32Conan O’Brien:And they're like, what are you talking about? And I said, I want to show these, these people, these actors are going to go crazy. And I said, no, I want to go to trial and show the clips and then say, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that is not acting.

45:50Conan O’Brien:And they said, you are not going to do that. and it's not happening shut up so that had to go away but you would have won right there this is before internet so i didn't know we had uh when the show first started all we had was like reviews to go off of and the reviews were were written by people my age or older and they didn't understand they just didn't like what I was doing. And no one told me that, no, there's all these 14 year olds out there who are staying up and watching it and they're like building a religion around it. And so I always wish, well, why couldn't, you know, Travis and Jason have got

46:35Travis Kelce:a hold of me back then and said, Hey man, there was no, there was no way.

46:42Conan O’Brien:And I, now I meet all these comics who are huge stars now who are like oh no i grew up watching your stuff and i thought well we didn't know no one told us we didn't have any idea so it was a kind of a rough start no

46:55Jason Kelce:like the first episode you came in with high expectations off of snl and like like everybody was like man conan o 'brien is hilarious he's gonna kill it and the only reason i know this is because i tried my hand at a late night show this year one of the hardest things i've ever done but i had uh you had a bunch of my writers all of them all of them they were all former late night with Conan O 'Brien, John Glazer, Tammy Sager, Andy Blitz, and Kevin Dorff. All those, they were all right on the show. It was so hard and daunting. And they knew what a fan I was of yourself. And they said, like, it wasn't easy for Conan when he just got started.

47:28Jason Kelce:It took him a while to, like, really get into it and everything. So I don't know. I don't know why I'm bringing this up now. But, yeah, go ahead.

47:34Conan O’Brien:It's like anything else where, again, I think there are probably some analogies to your guy's profession where, you know, you come up, you think about comedy all the time, you're obsessed with it. And then finally you get your show. But I was 29 when I auditioned, I had never done anything on television. And so, you know, it was one of those situations where I was thrown in, you know, as a rookie and it was, I'm just getting sacked left and right. It's kind of a disaster. We were doing the kind of comedy that I wanted to do, which was very strange and stuff that I really believed in and that my head writer, Robert Smigel, really believed in.

48:15Conan O’Brien:So we knew we were doing what we wanted to do, but I had to learn a lot. I had to kind of learn how to, you know, in your world, it would be like see the field and figure out how it all comes together and gels. And the only situation was you're just out there alone. You're one of just a few late night hosts. This is back when there weren't any. And I mean, there were very few. And so there's a lot of focus. There's an incredible amount of focus. So yeah, we barely survived that first year and a half, two years. I always thought I was going to get canceled. But then it started to gel. And then it started to click.

48:57Conan O’Brien:But I think I started in September of 93. And I don't think it really started to click with Americans until like 96.

49:07Jason Kelce:It makes sense to looking back at it though, because a lot of the stuff ended up, you're building like this atmosphere within the show, right? Like there's like so many pieces and characters and bits and things that take time to really take foot for like fans watching. But once they're in, it's like, this stuff is gold, man. It is hilarious. And the fans love it. And I feel more like maybe I'm wrong on this, but it feels like you almost more than any of the other late night show hosts. There's like a level of fandom that is like to a diehard nature. Like people absolutely love Conan O 'Brien with like an infatuation.

49:43Travis Kelce:He's so spot on. And I've always actually wondered why? Why haven't you done more acting? Oh, well, I've always I've always in my mind like, man, he's he's so good. He could do all of it. He's got the full gamut. But I feel like you haven't, like, I don't know. Am I off on that?

50:03Conan O’Brien:No, no, you're not off. You're off about a lot of things. But I am. I am off. This is, you know, I mean, Travis, you're so off on just about everything. But, and I'm getting this from Jason. But he's got a lot of complaints. No, you're absolutely right. You know, here's the problem. I just love what I do so much that the idea of me being in a buddy cop movie, if it's comedy, I would be excited to do it. And I did a serious acting role this year with Rose Byrne for this movie, If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You, which did really, she's nominated for an Oscar and that was exciting to try. but I don't think I have it in me to be in a real acting scene.

50:52Conan O’Brien:Meaning if, if I was in a scene and my job was to tell a woman how much I loved her and then start crying, I would just be doing bits the whole time and jokes and they'd fire me right away. You know, like I couldn't, you know what I mean? If, if my job was to say, I loved you, I love you so much. i i think i would i mean people in the audiences would just be laughing and then i'd probably look at the camera and go well what do you want from me you know so no that makes that makes all the

51:26Jason Kelce:sense in the world she's grieving about her father just dying in your and i'm like you'll get another

51:31Conan O’Brien:father what's the big deal father's are a dime a dozen you know uh i'd do some stupid bit i'd ruin Guys, it's for the best. It's for the best that I stay out of acting.

51:42Jason Kelce:You're not staying out of the acting world. You are hosting the Oscars for your second time coming up this Sunday.

51:48Conan O’Brien:Guys, I need you. I will fly you in. You guys have to be backstage with me, getting me psyched up just before I go out. If you did that, I'd go running out there with way too much energy. Could I do that? Yeah! Yeah! And they'd have shots of like, Timothy Chalamet and, you know, these like famous actors, Brad Pitt, being like, what is wrong with him? And they're like, yeah! We're gonna kill it! We're gonna chew it up and spit it out! We're gonna fucking kill him! Yeah, and then doctors would rush in and carry me away.

52:24Jason Kelce:That's right, Trav, we'll give him some pre-workout drinks, some smelling salts, creatine. You'll be juiced to the gills, Conan.

52:31Travis Kelce:You give him all that, we're going to, we're going to need to give them a helmet to all those things. You need to put a helmet on. If you're going to do that, that, that can cocks you get crazy.

52:39Conan O’Brien:If we did this, I would totally, the Oscars would be a disaster and afterwards word would get out. He would be going like, what happened? He did it last year and it was good. What happened? Well, did we mention that Travis and Jason Kelsey were backstage with him? They gave him some stuff to drink. They gave him a helmet and they yelled at him. that might have had something to do with it then conan went over and speared the trombonist it was crazy yeah just take him out just take him out yeah electric give the people what they want to

53:15Jason Kelce:see man sure you got to you got to well have you seen most of the movies that are up for awards how does this when you're hosting do you make a point to try and watch all of them and yeah i

53:24Conan O’Brien:really do try to see them all. And this was a great year. I mean, this was a year where there's big stars in the films. There's a lot of great movies. There's box office hits, I mean, movies that did really well. So I watched them all and I thought this is a great crop of movies. So it's a good year to host. I was excited about it.

53:47Jason Kelce:You had a Kendrick Lamar joke last year that you bet one of your writers on that whether it was going to work out or not oh no i didn't bet him my producer

53:55Conan O’Brien:did my one of my writers wrote a joke and um i think it was i'm trying to think of it what it was it was like well it we're halfway through the show and kendrick lamar had he had just done the super bowl halftime show yeah and um and who was he feuding with it was drake that's right it was and so uh you know these feuds i try and keep up with them um uh the rap yeah i said hey we're halfway through the show which means it's time for kendrick lamar to call drake a pedophile and and uh it destroyed it destroyed and people went crazy for it but just before i went out my producer jeff ross was like that joke's gonna bomb no one's gonna get it and i'm like are you kidding me?

54:44Conan O’Brien:And so he bet the writer of the joke. And as I walk backstage, I see my producer handing him like a hundred dollars.

54:54Conan O’Brien:Better than I thought. Yeah. But I was never in doubt about that one.

54:58Jason Kelce:Are there any jokes you're worried about this year? How do you go sussing out which ones make it and which ones don't?

55:04Conan O’Brien:Probably one of the best things to do, which I've been doing now for about two months, is I go to clubs and I show up as a surprise. And I go to far flung clubs, like really clubs that are way out there jason could you imagine just sitting there and conan walks out what that'd be so cool it's fun and you go to these places where i mean sometimes it literally is like a little comedy uh club in the back of a bowling alley in covina and there's no like the bathroom door is busted so they say just use the alley so i was in an alley in covina pissing up against a wall before i did my set and i thought i'm hosting the oscars in like five weeks and i'm pissing in an alley in covina and i and i just thought like this is amazing i love this this is what it takes to be the best yeah you've got to go urinate in an alley if you want to i'll be probably doing that just before the Oscars, minutes before I'll say, do you guys have an alley?

56:09Conan O’Brien:What are you talking about?

56:10Jason Kelce:I'm superstitious.

56:11Conan O’Brien:Yeah, I'm superstitious. I need an alley right now. And I need nine quarts of water. You go out and you try jokes out and you, over time, you get a sense of these ones seem to consistently do well. This one doesn't seem to land right. And it's just a lot of, again, something you guys can relate to, prep. I mean, a lot of things in life are putting the work and... Do the prep. I'm a big believer. I always thought how much talent I have isn't my business. I don't even know. It's very hard to know, like, am I more talented than that person or less talented than that person? I always thought I can't control that.

56:55Conan O’Brien:That's a mystical thing that you can never really know. What I can control is prep. I can control prep and I can control hard work and be honest with yourself. When it didn't go right, don't tell yourself it went. great. Be honest with yourself. So those are the principles that I probably think apply to not just your profession, my profession, but you can apply that anywhere. There's a lot I can't control. And if you do the prep, then if the plan doesn't go right, then you improvise, but you have a freedom. Well, at least I did the prep. So now I feel free to, okay, this didn't unfold the way I wanted it to.

57:41Conan O’Brien:And this prop just broke or something just went wrong in front of everybody. But now I can make something up. I can scramble. And I think that, again, same principles in my business as your business. It's the same thing. Yeah.

57:57Jason Kelce:You're 100 % right. I think two of the things you have touched on are like monikers that we use our whole career, like the control what you control is something that is so important in athletics and really everything, right? So many people get wound up in their head thinking about what ifs and things that are outside what they have control of. And it's like, Hey, if you just focus on these things, this is actually what's going to allow you to be successful. To me, I felt like whenever I practice and really put the time in, I just felt confident and you're not as nervous. You don't worry as much.

58:27Jason Kelce:You're just kind of out there doing what you just did all week preparing for. And it does free you up and trying new things out. You know, you're going to the clubs. We would try things out in practice. You know, I go out there and I'm going to try this technique out today. Oh, I just got my ass kicked. Okay, let's throw that one away. We're not going to try that one again.

58:45Conan O’Brien:Well, I got my answer. Yeah. Yeah, right. And there's also a thing that I think about a lot is muscle memory. And you'd think you can apply that to anything. You can apply muscle memory, obviously, to athletics, which is just thousands and thousands and thousands of reps. So you're not thinking when you catch the ball. You're not thinking when you're centering up. You're not thinking about any of that stuff because it's the muscle memory. It's the same thing that happens in comedy And it's the same thing that happens, I'm sure, in every other profession where you have that and that can take over.

59:29Conan O’Brien:So you don't have to waste any brainpower thinking about that. And it frees up space to take advantage of, oh, wait, this weird thing just happened. I'm going to go left or I'm going to go right. It's all the same thing.

59:42Jason Kelce:Travelers to call that blacken out. He's talked about that numerous times.

59:46Travis Kelce:but you do the work so that you have those natural instincts ready in your back pocket to play you know what i mean yeah i think i think it's so fascinating we all have uh we all have the different like the you were talking about the the work you put in the prep you put in we all have that different like world that is our prep and i think that's where you really make it unique you make it you and to hear that you're going to these kind of one-off small town comedy spots that is so cool to know that you use those to be on literally the biggest stage that anybody could

1:00:22Conan O’Brien:ever be on yeah the other thing that's great about it is um i get a lot of energy from being around i mean sometimes these are you know people in their 20s are hanging out trying out their sets there and they have um it's tough to make a living and stand up right now because the business structure of it all has changed. So a lot of these people that I'm hanging out with before I go up or after I go up have two other jobs. And you see that I like anything that reminds me that the scale of things can change. You can be in the Super Bowl or you can be hosting the Oscars, but fundamentally it's not different from you playing in the street in front of your house.

1:01:14Conan O’Brien:There is something that the two are connected and to act like there's not a connection between the two I think is silly because there is. There's a real fundamental connection. And I think sometimes people forget, they think, well, Super Bowl, that's just going to be a whole new thing. And you think, well, actually, fundamentally, it's the same thing. We've added all these layers of money and prestige and commercials, and there's going to be rockets firing in the air, and there's a huge halftime. But fundamentally, it's the same thing. And that's what I think about is when I go out there, uh, in a couple of days, it's going to be the same thing that I've been trying to do in one way or another, since I was 14 years old, it's really not that different.

1:02:08It's just now I've got makeup, like a really nice touch.

1:02:13Conan O’Brien:I'm not pissing on a brick wall. Exactly. Well, there might be time for that. We'll see, you know, but yeah.

1:02:19Jason Kelce:You said you're trying some of these jokes out in these comedy clubs. Would you try some of

1:02:23Conan O’Brien:them out with us right now i absolutely will not i'm too superstitious fair enough fair enough i absolutely will not and i and i don't trust you i'm gonna be honest with you i don't trust you that's fair that is very fair you guys are you have a great reputation you seem like good guys uh you know you're a wholesome ohio boys but i don't i think you're gonna leak these you're gonna fuck me over and you're gonna you're gonna laugh and then you're gonna high five each other that's what's going to happen.

1:02:52Jason Kelce:That's right. You see right through us, Conan. All right. Last officer's question. Will the Dune sandstorm be making another appearance?

1:03:00Conan O’Brien:You know, I got to change it up. And this culture moves so quickly that the thing that you could joke about last year, you know, this year, if I made a Dune joke, people would be like, what's Dune? I mean, everyone has such short attention spans now that they're thinking about these movies that we're talking about tonight and if i talk about something that happened six weeks ago they don't know what i'm talking about so yeah there'll be no dune this year well uh let's move on to something we've

1:03:29Travis Kelce:really been wanting to ask you since we've uh found out that we were going to have the pleasure having you in front of us um kind of already touched a little bit on this but um as someone that's done 4 380 episodes of late night tv and now a fellow podcaster what is what's the golden

1:03:48Conan O’Brien:nugget to becoming a better interviewer okay i do have a strong opinion about this which is yes um it's not a good one but it's a strong opinion no uh i i think that you can do kind of a jedi mind trick on yourself and i i do this um if you're talk if you're interviewing a lot of people. And over the years, I've interviewed like three people a night, five nights a week,

1:04:22Conan O’Brien:46 weeks a year. I mean, it's just a total grind. And there'd be people that would come on the show that I, to be honest with you, because you're doing such a volume business, I wasn't naturally that interested in that person. That would happen. It's just, there's no way around it. And what I would do is I would spend some time thinking about that person and try to find the thing about either themselves or what they do that was interesting to me. And if you think about it, you can always find that thing. So you could at first glance have a guest and you're thinking, you know, we're talking to this guy who was the former treasury secretary.

1:05:09Conan O’Brien:Why do I want to talk to the former treasury secretary? And then, but then if you look at it, you find out, oh, he loves restoring 1967 Chryslers. And then you're like, oh, that's kind of cool. Or he likes Taekwondo. Wait a minute. That's interesting. If you think about someone and read a little bit about them, you'll find things that's your way into that person. And I think humans listening to any interview, podcast, late night, they can tell when you're really interested. And so all it is, is finding what's the thing that interests you about that person. And the second part is listening. Because believe it or not, there are a lot of interviewers out there who don't listen.

1:05:57Conan O’Brien:They just, they have their question they want to ask, but they're not really listening. and if you're listening you'll hear the person say something like you know there was that summer that i worked in a in a coal mine and you'd be like wait a minute what you worked in a coal mine what's that all about and if you're not listening you let you breeze right past that and you you know you lose this golden thing so those are the tricks yeah i mean that makes all the sense in the world by the way i hear kids in the background i hear children that's mine yeah my i

1:06:27Jason Kelce:I do this in my basement. No, no, that's...

1:06:31Conan O’Brien:Big production. Big production. If you want, Jason, I will totally scream at them for you.

1:06:37Travis Kelce:Oh.

1:06:41I mean...

1:06:42Jason Kelce:Guy, which one's making noise?

1:06:45Travis Kelce:Which one's making noise?

1:06:50Jason Kelce:Conan wants to scream at them real quick.

1:06:57Jason Kelce:I'm getting a no from my wife. Yeah, that's okay. I respect her.

1:07:01Conan O’Brien:I respect her for that no. You know what? It's for the best because your children would be scarred for life. They'd say, why did that orange haired woman yell at us?

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1:07:26Jason Kelce:Not checking the clocks or reset after daylight savings time.

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1:07:54Jason Kelce:Thank you to our partner, Liquid IV. Spring is here, and you know what that means, spring break travel. Who doesn't love a good spring break travel? We oftentimes would find ourselves growing up, going down to Florida where our grandmother lived, our uncle lived on Marco Island, and then we'd try and time it up in a little Disney World action. It was the highlight growing up as a kid. And then I got into high school, and we would go every spring break to tour as a jazz ensemble, where I forgot to mention to Conan O 'Brien that I actually played at Brookline High School. I competed in jazz against his alma mater.

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1:09:13Jason Kelce:Plus, there's tons of hydration multiplier flavors to choose from, like cotton candy, popsicle firecracker, or my favorite, pina colati. Or you can try sugar-free options with flavors like white peach, lemon lime, rainbow sherbet, and more. Wherever you're heading this spring, travel with on-the-go hydration from Liquid IV. Tear, pour, live more. Head to liquidiv.com and get 20 % off your first order with the code NEWHEIGHTS at checkout. That interview advice is great because it is often that you find yourself like you're, you get caught in the questions and you're not listening. And that's what it's like.

1:09:48Jason Kelce:It doesn't feel like a conversation. It doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. The other thing we find that we're often doing is we're just doing like a bit of that Chris Farley SNL thing. Do you remember? Do you remember? That was great, right?

1:10:02Conan O’Brien:Yes, man. I love that sketch. I love when he would do that. You guys are huge Farley fans. Is that correct? We are. We are. Yeah. Yeah. So I was there the day he came in for his interview. He had to go talk to Lorne Michaels about, before you get hired, you have to have this one last interview with Lorne Michaels. And Lorne had this office that was right above the studio. We would all write up on the 17th floor, but then the studio is on the eighth floor. And on the ninth floor, there's this small office that Lauren had. And he would, you know, he'd make people wait a long time. And I kept noticing this guy sitting, you know, he was a real young Chris Farley and he was sitting on this couch wearing like a blue blazer and a tie.

1:10:53Conan O’Brien:And he's being so Chris, he was just waiting for his big shot to talk to Lauren. And I'm a writer there. And I noticed after a while, like this poor guy's been waiting a long time. And someone said, oh, that's Chris. He's probably going to be a cast member, but he has to have his interview with Lauren. So I told Chris, let's take a walk, buddy. I'm Conan. He's like, oh, hey, hey, how are you? Oh, you know, bowing and like, oh, oh. And I'm like, hey, let's take a walk. I'll show you around. So I walked him around the studio on eight. And I was doing this bit where if a guy was raising a boom mic, I would shout out like I was in charge of him.

1:11:31Conan O’Brien:And I would shout out like I was the boss. But if he was already raising the boom mic, I'd be like, get that boom mic up. Let's go, get that boom mic up. Let's have it now, Charlie. And his name wasn't even Charlie. I didn't even know his name. I'd be like, come on, Charlie. Fire with the boom mic. And Chris was laughing and then Chris started doing it. And so we walked around just doing this bit for about 20 minutes, shouting at people to do the thing they were already doing. And then he ends up having his interview with Lauren, which obviously went well. And then, you know, he was just such, he was that guy.

1:12:10Conan O’Brien:He would always, you meet people in comedy who were kind of serious when they're not doing it. And then they turn it on. And I've always really related to the people that do it 24 seven. And that was Chris. I mean, Chris, you'd see him in the hallway and you could like pretend to hit him in the stomach and he would double over and then he'd go into a character. And it was that all the time. It's really joyous.

1:12:35Travis Kelce:You just fed that to my heart and my bones. We love Farley, man. We grew up on that. And I can only imagine how amazing it was to actually be around the guy, even off camera and everything.

1:12:48Jason Kelce:Yeah, yeah. Well, it makes sense that you two would click right away because I feel like both of you are very physical comedians, right? Yes. There's a lot of body motion and physicality to the humor. I guess that probably does lend itself to – if you're like that, you're probably like that off air as well. It's probably hard to turn that on, I would assume.

1:13:06Conan O’Brien:I'm one of six kids, and I grew up in an environment – and we were all born practically within months of each other. We defied science. It's the Irish Catholic way. Irish six tuplets. Yeah, exactly. And so there was a lot of physicality just growing up. I mean, we have dogs and cats and I just see them on the floor rolling around. They're playing, but if you didn't know any better, it looks like they're fighting, but they're not. They're playing. They're like soft mouth, but they're like kind of biting each other and cuffing each other and rolling around on the floor and making noise. And that's how I grew up.

1:13:46Conan O’Brien:And I'm very much still that way, I like to be, for better or worse, very physical around people. And I'm constantly, now that I'm no spring chicken, but for years, I immediately want to do any bit that involves me jumping through something, like fake glass or taking a fall or making a leap. I just love that stuff. And now I'm 62 years old and I still like doing that stuff. And so I'll come up with an idea where I do that. And these, the people, the professionals will say, well, no, we're going to have to get a stunt guy. And I, I, I lose it. I say, no, I, the only reason I want to do this is I want to jump through the window.

1:14:38Conan O’Brien:I want to get tackled. I want, you know, that's the stuff. I want to go through this table. Yeah, I want to go through this table. And, you know, I'll figure out the rest later. Meaning if something breaks, we'll figure it out. But that is very much the kind of thing I've always liked a lot. And so I don't seem to be adjusting for age. And that's probably going to go very badly at some point. But no, no, not if you just keep living young. You're good. Okay, so the doctors are wrong.

1:15:17Jason Kelce:We'll get you some Toradol. You'll be fine. You'll be good. It's all precautionary. Jason, what is it called? Toradol. It was a big... They used to inject it, and then there was a lawsuit.

1:15:26Travis Kelce:Well, you can still get the injection.

1:15:28Conan O’Brien:So you're saying that I qualify for an injection of a drug that... You're going to go back to your 40s.

1:15:35Jason Kelce:We would be honored to host you to Bill's Mafia, Buffalo, New York. We're going to inject you with some Toradol And we're going to send you through a flaming table I think you'd be Very excited for this

1:15:47Conan O’Brien:Guys, I'm not kidding I will promise you this right now on the air I'll meet you anywhere Anytime I want a professional doctor to inject me with Toradol And then I will Jump through something I promise you This is not a bit I'm here on record I think that would be so much fun Let's go Yeah. And then my wife will take all of you, all of us to court, me included.

1:16:19Conan O’Brien:That would be so much fun to do that, though. I mean, I'm giddy just thinking about it. This is going to happen. It's going to happen. We're going to shoot it. We're going to be video. It's going to go viral. And then you guys can come visit me in the hospital.

1:16:30Travis Kelce:I'm just going to say the Chiefs do play in Buffalo next year.

1:16:37Jason Kelce:we know we're on borrowed time here we're going to do our last segment we got to ask all right

1:16:41Conan O’Brien:are you kidding i will spend i will spend the week with you i would rather do this than any of the hospital seriously send me back into the room with this is the most fun i've had in a while and i'm not just joyous so i have i'm very happy all right uh of all the guests you've had on late night or the pod who is your favorite there are different kinds of guests that are great in different ways but i think a uh a guy who was a true artist was uh norm mcdonald we we had a little 50 bet going on ourselves if it was going to be norm or not absolutely and if i mention norm i've got to say there's also i mean will ferrell when he would come on completely in character.

1:17:28Conan O’Brien:And, you know, as a leprechaun and a thong. I mean, so it's not that there's one winner, but the reason I mentioned Norm is that nobody did what he did and no one ever can again. I do think he was uniquely able. He would come out and just tell these stories that were total bullshit. And you knew from the get-go it was total bullshit. And he'd be like, you know, I'd say, Norm, how's it going? I said, I'm pretty good, Conan. You know, I got a farm. And I'd be thinking, he doesn't have a fucking farm. But I'd go, you know, because you're the interviewer, I'd be like, oh, you have a fucking, yeah, yeah.

1:18:06Conan O’Brien:I got a farm and I got three daughters, Conan. And I'd be thinking, what? But I'd go like three daughters. Yeah, yeah, each one prettier than the next. And one day a traveling salesman. Yeah, yeah, a traveling salesman. And you'd think, oh, he's just telling a joke from 1942. And he's pretending this really happened to him. And it's performance art. I'm telling you, when I walk around in the world, people, people like come out of the woodwork and say, oh, my God, Norm MacDonald, this time he was on that time he was on this other time he was on. And I just think that there's I think people are going to be talking about that guy 50 years from now.

1:18:52Conan O’Brien:You know, he he 100 percent. he uh and you know and the way he told jokes and he was completely fearless that's the thing he was

1:19:02Travis Kelce:always so smooth man did you ever have an underrated guess like so like a sneaky guess that was kind of your fave that nobody would uh i mean there's so many different guests that would

1:19:12Conan O’Brien:come on and defy the label you know and there are people that can come on where you know they're known for being incredibly good looking, or you think, oh, this person's going to be this type. I shot something once with Tom Cruise in London where we're driving around together. He was so great comedically and naturally funny. And I have to admit, I had put him in a little bit of a box of, well, he's an action star guy. So he probably doesn't, he won't be the funniest person. and he was, he was really great and he played it perfectly and he had really good ideas. And I thought, well, that's on me.

1:19:56Conan O’Brien:I put him in a box. I thought, you know, he's great at hanging onto the wing of a plane and delivering like a great action line, but there's no way he can, I mean, I'm not expecting him to be funny in this way. And he was that and more. And I'm sure you guys have experienced this doing the podcast, which is you'll talk to someone and you think, well, this, okay, they're going to be really fascinating, but they're not going to be X, Y, or Z. And then they are a thousand times over. So we all form biases. We all form like, okay, I'm going to talk to these guys and this is what we're going to talk about.

1:20:38Conan O’Brien:And no, you're completely wrong there's people will surprise you every time i share that same story

1:20:45Travis Kelce:ironically in london with uh tom cruise he he just he was one of the funniest down-to-earth guys and it's just you just don't you don't think to put him in really you don't ever want to put anybody in a bubble but it's just like you don't think of it as that and he really did he really was just the best guy um do you have do you have like a favorite joke of all time oh uh man no there's

1:21:09Conan O’Brien:too many. I don't think there could be one joke that I would say is my, I have bits I've done that I really love.

1:21:22Conan O’Brien:We found out that there was a league that played baseball and they played with 18, 1875 rules, like literally the same. One of my favorite bits I've ever seen. They dressed like it was 1875 and they, they called the ball, the apple, which is something that they really did in 1875 did like, you know, pitch the apple and they talked in that. So I showed up and I got into this insane costume and a fake like handlebar mustache. and I just became one of those guys. I literally became one of those guys and I was such an asshole and I was taunting the pitcher and saying, hurl the apple, hurl the apple and making like weird jokes that would have been from the 1870s and the guy got irritated.

1:22:15Conan O’Brien:So he whipped one really close to my head and I ducked and then I dropped the bat and I come after him and I start putting my fist up.

1:22:25Travis Kelce:It's the only way somebody fights with a handlebar mustache.

1:22:29Conan O’Brien:When I do fight both of you in a parking lot, which will happen, because I'll be whacked out on Toradol. That's right. I was about to say. It will be this style. And I'll get a few pops in before you rip my torso into two pieces and candy comes out.

1:22:45Jason Kelce:It's got good reach. Good reach on you.

1:22:46Conan O’Brien:I love those moments. There are moments where I don't even know I'm doing comedy. And you guys talk about it, too. too, it's when you said it's the blackout moments. Those are the moments that are the ultimate high for me is when you're doing your thing and it feels easy and you're not even thinking about it. And then it's over and people say, oh, that was great. And you go, I don't even know what happened. That's what I live for.

1:23:10Jason Kelce:This isn't in the rundown, but I do want to ask you this because I'm always fascinated with people that are writers and also just naturally inherently funny and can just go like you're talking about like blackout they just kind of are riffing in football it's very easy like hey like if you practice running routes versus specific coverage like yeah you know where the open space is you know structurally what is is there like a structure that you hone or practice in the world of comedy that makes you able to riff and kind of just be like that

1:23:39Conan O’Brien:all the time i don't think i've ever seen them written out but there are certain structures that get passed on from time to time and you mostly learn it through, you grow up and you look at what's making me laugh. I took from everything. I learned from really funny movies like the Clouseau movies with Peter Sellers, but also Warner Brothers cartoons and also TV shows I really loved. And you'd pick up on different funny people you'd see on Johnny Carson. and you'd notice a certain rhythm and it just kind of gets into your bones. And so it's not so much like there's a textbook anywhere. I'd be very suspicious of any book that said, make sure the joke always hits on the three.

1:24:28Conan O’Brien:Make sure that, you know, like I would be suspicious of that. But I do think you pick up on things and then just through trial and error. And I mean, not even in front of people, but so much trial and error happens in comedy anyway, happens first when you're a kid around your parents and your brothers and sisters. Then in school, then it happens just out in life. You're constantly seeing and adjusting and learning on some level, but there's no book. No one can write it out in chalk on a board with X's and O's, and then you cut left or cut right. But it's one of those things that you learn just by doing over and over and over again.

1:25:13Conan O’Brien:And it kind of just sinks in to your bones. I think that is, that is, um, cause I don't, I, you know, the minute someone presents me with a structure, I would be, it would bum me out. You know, I think, uh, you always want to be able to surprise yourself in a moment, man.

1:25:30Travis Kelce:You're giving us all types of nuggets of golds here, man.

1:25:33Jason Kelce:Yeah. And it makes sense because I think comedy so much is about being doing and saying the unexpected so the moment you try to put structure to it like it's like okay you're you're taking away the part that kind of makes it funny is by setting something up and then veering in a direction that nobody anticipates you going in whenever people try and analyze comedy i think

1:25:53Conan O’Brien:it just disappears like it suddenly turns into the most boring conversation because you're trying to grab smoke you know and you're like i've got the smoke but then you open your hand and it's not there that's a good analogy but i mean that's kind of how it it feels it's just there's so many things that are mysterious to me and i kind of never want to know how they work well uh you've

1:26:17Travis Kelce:got another stage you're hitting uh this year and it's in a commencement speech at harvard yeah how

1:26:24Conan O’Brien:how are you feeling about that how did that come about i get a lot of uh energy and inspiration from young people. So that's the thing that's exciting to me about it is I always feel like I'm a little bit like a vampire in that I like being around young people that are optimistic because it's really easy to get cynical or to start feeling like you've seen it all. You can just enter a phase of your life where it's easy to go down that road. And to me, the antidote is be around young people. And a lot of times you talk to them and you think, oh, wow, these people are really smart. They seem to get it.

1:27:15Conan O’Brien:They've got a lot of energy. I think we're in good shape going forward. It's easy. People get very dour about the future, especially adults and older adults. And when you're around younger people, you can kind of feel like the world is in good hands. Oh, yeah.

1:27:33Jason Kelce:Well, you've been blessed with great length, Conan. You're 6 '4". We've talked about your imposing physical stature. Have you ever attempted to dunk a basketball?

1:27:44Conan O’Brien:Yes. Yes, I have. How did it go? Well, the ensuing surgeries took six years. There was a total reconstruction of my arms. had to be completely rebuilt from the ground up.

1:27:59Travis Kelce:Oh no. Well, your arms look great.

1:28:02Conan O’Brien:I was one of those late bloomers. So it's like late high school, I start to shoot up and I'm still growing. I think when I go to college and I'm six, four and people would see me and go, wow, you must be a great, people are always throwing me a basketball and saying, let's go. You know, I bet you're amazing. And I would have to explain to them that height is one of the things that helps in basketball. There are some other ones. Natural ability, coordination, caring, caring about where the ball is. Focus. And when I would play basketball, which I liked to do, and I would always do bits the whole time I was playing basketball.

1:28:49Conan O’Brien:That's all I'm thinking of in my head right now. Yeah. And when I'd play stickball, too, we would go. there was a place that had a wall and we spray painted like a, you know, rectangle on it for the strike zone. And you'd use a, you'd use a really thin bat and a, and tennis balls. And I would always announce who my character was and explain my character before I got up to the plate. And there'd be, I mean, there'd be people that were laughing and there'd be other people that were like, Jesus Christ, what are we? And I'd be like, okay, this next guy just got out of prison. He went. This is a real guy.

1:29:24Conan O’Brien:I had a character whose name was Nicky Fiss, who was the most hated man in baseball. And I'd say now Nicky Fiss is up at the plate. He just got out of prison. He did two years for manslaughter because in a rage he threw his bat into the stands, killing an old woman. Fans hate him. You know, he's been banned from the sport, but he's back tonight. Nicky Fiss. And then he'd be like, can't you just play the game?

1:29:44Travis Kelce:This is the game.

1:29:46Conan O’Brien:Thank you. This is the much more important game. That's the game I was obsessed with. And Bob Odenkirk and I lived in Chicago and we did a comedy show there once years and years ago when we were in our early 20s. And he and I would go to shoot baskets and I would pull my shirt up and put it over my face so that I couldn't see. And I had my shirt over my face. And I would say, I'm the phantom, a guy who magically shows up at a basketball court and I'm the phantom. And then I would try to play with my shirt over my face and of course, Bob would go into a phantom. Maybe if you took the mask off, no one can know my identity.

1:30:31Conan O’Brien:People would pass this in Chicago on the North side. People would pass this idiot and I'd be, I'd be missing not just the rim, but I would be missing. I wouldn't even, I mean, And I'd just be throwing the ball up into the street because I can't see, but that was more interesting to me than actually trying to get the ball in the hoop.

1:30:55Travis Kelce:That's fucking good, man.

1:30:57Conan O’Brien:If I played for like the Eagles or the Chiefs for one day, the coaches would have blood coming out their ears. Cause they'd say, all right guys, let's go. We're going to run this formation. i'd say hold on hold on my name is giuseppe aldardo i come from italy and go what the hell what's he doing you know it's fucking gold though man

1:31:26Travis Kelce:to be honest though that's you need some of that in every in every like building every workplace like you need that ability to just be let everybody be themselves and as long as you're being productive but i i i would have fucking died to be a part of any of those fucking games

1:31:45Conan O’Brien:keep it in mind because i know you know you just signed up again travis so if you want yeah baby i'll come into the locker room if you guys are getting your asses kicked i'll come into the locker room you know at halftime and i'll i'll you know i'll be a character boy will people get pissed you'll be laughing but everyone else will be get him the fuck out of here

1:32:09Travis Kelce:oh i can't wait to bring that to coach reed yeah yeah tell him oh i bet he's gonna be all over that we got one last question uh do you have a welcome to hollywood moment conan

1:32:23Conan O’Brien:um that's a good question um let's see a welcome to hollywood mo uh yeah um i'm gonna say I came out, I grew up in Boston, went to school in Boston, and then went right to LA in 1985. I'm 22 years old. And I thought, because I didn't know anything. I was such a rube. I was such a naive guy. And so my writing partner and I, this guy Greg Daniels, we were like, hey, let's go Hollywood. We rented a hotel room because we needed a place to stay when we got started. So we rented a really cheap hotel in Hollywood because I thought Hollywood was where all the stars lived and it was going to be really fancy.

1:33:22Conan O’Brien:And I couldn't believe how cheap this hotel room was so greg and i fly out on this really cheap flight it was called people's express

1:33:31Travis Kelce:you guys aren't even born yet but still still still ripping cigs on the plane or what oh my

1:33:37Conan O’Brien:it was just um

1:33:44Conan O’Brien:literally this is in the day where you don't need a reservation you barely have to show your id you show up, you give them like$60 and they throw you in this cattle car. That's an airplane. And you, you fly across the country and we land and we go and the sun is setting and we get to our little tiny place in Hollywood, like with a Bunsen burner, you know, and, and then we go out, we should get something to eat. And we start walking around and we're walking down Hollywood Boulevard on like a Saturday night. and um it is not what i thought it is you know i mean it's strip clubs it's really depressing cheesy there's it's just it is it is the most and and we're walking around and when i said i'm a young 22.

1:34:39Conan O’Brien:I was 22, but I was six, four. I was 158 pounds. You can imagine. I was so skinny. And I was at that age where anything I ate just dissolved into, it just became nervous energy and hair. So I'm walking around and I'm getting proposition by men, women. There's like neon blinking. There's trash everywhere. There's needles on the sidewalk. And I was like, you know, where's Harrison Ford?

1:35:16Conan O’Brien:Where's Halle Berry? This is frightening. So yeah, I had a real quick education that no, I'm not going to be hanging out on Hollywood and vine at night unless i become a male prostitute which is still a goal of mine that future is

1:35:37Travis Kelce:still still there for the taking honestly this is this has been outstanding we can't thank you enough my face my face fucking hurts man you are the you're the best brother we can't thank you for the time the stories are epic um and wishing you nothing but the best man i want to uh thank you

1:35:53Conan O’Brien:because I've never appeared cooler to my staff than, and I've got a few fans over here who are losing their shit. And also, I'll say this on a sincere note, you're both really funny, really nice people, and that comes through, and that's huge. And so I'm just overjoyed to get to talk to both of you, seriously. And stay healthy, be good, and anytime, Jason, you need your kids to be screamed at, You know, wait till your wife's out of town. Yeah, right. Wait till the wife is out of town. Yeah. All right. This has been a joy, guys. The best, dude. Conan O 'Brien, ladies and gentlemen.

1:36:37Travis Kelce:Let's go. See you later. Bye. You're the best, Conan.

1:36:41Jason Kelce:All right. That does it for Conan. Did not disappoint. Oh, man. Did not disappoint.

1:36:46Travis Kelce:Just fucking electric, man.

1:36:48Jason Kelce:We've been trying to make that episode happen for a long time. and you know he's just like a legend in our eyes from growing up watching him the fact that he's still freaking just like in every way he's going to host the Oscars and that we're going to get to see him jump through a table Bill's Mafia it sounds like on Tour It All could not be more thrilled I'm definitely doing Tour It All if I'm jumping through another table that wraps up another episode of New Heights thank you to Conan O 'Brien for being here. You can watch Conan host the Oscars this Sunday. Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend releases every Monday and Thursday.

1:37:27Jason Kelce:Oh, and make sure you subscribe to the New Heights channel on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

1:37:31Travis Kelce:That's right. Once again, New Heights, a Wondery Show brought to you by Halo's Pet Nutrition. Get those little furry friends of yours or non-furry friends of yours the healthiest food that they can get so they can live to be big, strong boys or girls. Follow the show on all social media at New Heights show with one S and thanks to our production team, our new Heights production team and all the 92 % is out there. We wouldn't do this without you. I promise. See you guys next week.

1:38:08Jason Kelce:I do got to say the moment you said the thing about cats growing up, I knew you were going to be a Will Ferrell fan that, that audition for SNL where he's playing with the make-believe cat. One of my favorite things of all time.

1:38:19Conan O’Brien:That's a guy who, and talk about a guy who's doing it 24 seven. He and I were on a flight once cross country. Like, you know, they sat us next to each other on a, on a, on a red eye. I can only imagine. We did a bit the whole time. I never once asked him, how are you? How's your wife? How's your life? He never once asked me, we did a bit that lasted six hours.

1:38:46Travis Kelce:That's gold.

1:38:47Jason Kelce:How does that start? You just like immediately go, and Will just knows you're doing a bit?

1:38:51Conan O’Brien:I see Will's dead eyes. He's got the eyes of a doll, the shark's eyes. Right out of Jaws. He's just got those dead eyes and he's looking at me. And I started to talk to him about my love of books because I had a book in my lap. And we both went into these characters who talked for six hours as if they loved books, but neither one of them could read. That was the joke. Flight attendants are coming and we're like waving them off. And like, I could have just had a fatal diagnosis, but I wouldn't have told him because we're in this now, you know what I mean? So stupid.