team coco – The Comedy Bureau

Conan O’Brien to Have His Final Show on TBS on Jun. 24th

May 4, 2021

Even though Conan O’Brien is undoubtedly the elder statesman of late night, he still very much is the rambunctious, risk taking innovator that he has always been through decades as a late night talk show host.

He has consistently pushed the boundaries where so many other late night hosts follow and, in that spirit, Conan has never forsaken the Team Coco faithful. His renowned remote segments, the growing podcast empire, and Conan’s penchant for not being very good at video games have all found Conan, for our money, ahead of the curve.

So, it doesn’t entirely surprise us that he’s doing something new by closing up shop at TBS and then doing something more sketch based and less like the tried and true late night format at HBO Max. For those who absolutely loved Conan on TBS, know that there are still upcoming Conan Without Borders specials in the pipeline at TBS. We’re not exactly sure what lies ahead for Conan at HBO Max, but we hope that it has the same sort of controlled chaos that is dyed in the wool of pretty much everything Conan O’Brien does.

The dovetailing of Conan on TBS has already begun as the final episode date has been scheduled for Thurs. Jun. 24th and O’Brien announced that they’ll be taking a long stroll down the 11 year long memory lane of his time on basic cable.

We have a feeling that this might be the dovetailing of an era of late night itself and the format originated back in the original Tonight Show/Steve Allen days might just becoming to an end as shows Desus & Mero and Last Week Tonight keep ascending in popularity. Truly, we’re excited to find out what that future looks like.

Jon Dore & Rory Scovel Discuss Their Legendary Simultaneous Late Night Sets on Conan

April 23, 2021

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In the pantheon of late night stand-up sets, one set that will always stand out on the merits of its daring, execution, and sheer absurdity is the 2011 performance by both Jon Dore and Rory Scovel who do separate stand-up sets at the very same time on Conan, side by side. The sheer dedication to the bit and their flawlessness in their performance is no only a testament to the comedy of both Dore and Scovel, but daring to be as aspirational in silliness as possible.

Dore and Scovel revisit this historic set with Conan booker JP Buck on Conan’s The Set Up and break down and reveal what went into these four hysterical minutes. Please, please, please enjoy their discussion here.

Please Enjoy Nikki Glaser Dissecting Her Conan Debut

February 12, 2021

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The Set Up has been one of the more illuminating web series when it comes to looking into the nitty gritty of the craft of stand-up comedy. Conan booker/producer JP Buck revisits his favorite stand-up sets on Conan with the very comedians that performed them. Breaking down every iota of the set and seeing the amount of detail, attention, care, and work that goes into a late night set is fascinating, especially if you’re a big comedy nerd or a comedian yourself.

Nikki Glaser’s attention to her particular crafting of jokes is painstaking, which she is through and through one of the best artisans of a joke that comedy has right now. That all clearly comes across in her episode of The Set Up where she revisits her very first set on Conan, which you can and should enjoy right here right now.

Please Enjoy Mike Birbiglia’s Full Interview on Conan (Which Includes Tales of Birbiglia Working for Jordan Schlansky)

February 3, 2021

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Even though the pandemic has prevented most comedians from touring in earnest, it’s still a hot ticket to go see Mike Birbiglia do a live-stream that’s probably one of the slickest looking set-ups for virtual comedy.

Luckily for us all, Mike has an almost 20 min. interview on Conan where you can marvel at his office/stand-up stage and an insider’s look at what working for the infamous Jordan Schlansky (Mike was an intern at Late Night with Conan O’Brien). As you might imagine, Schlansky is still on brand of being a pretentious android no matter who is telling a story about him.

Go and enjoy the entire conversation with Conan O’Brien here.

Coming next weekend, Mike has six shows for Working It Out coming up and two of them are already sold out. Go get tickets here.

Pick of the Day: Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer 2/12

February 2, 2021

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Combining how separated we all literally are and the impending arrival of 2021’s Valentine’s Day, it’s hard for us to think of a better comedy show to check out than the latest live-stream edition of Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer.

Fresh off from a move to Team Coco, one of the best comedy/dating/sex/relationship/interview podcasts around has done just a handful of live-streams as lockdown persists and has this latest one set up for Fri. Feb. 12th at 6PM PT/9PM ET. Also, you’ll have time to catch after the stream if you can’t tune in right then and there.

Tickets for this Valentine’s edition of Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer are only $10.50 and you can and very much should get them here.

Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer Is Moving to Team Coco

January 12, 2021

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(via Deadline)

As the burgeoning world of podcasts continues to burgeon, it’s it certainly worth noting which of the biggest, best, most popular podcasts are and where they end up possibly moving (or, in the case of some like My Favorite Murder and Last Podcast on the Left, get to create their very own podcast network).

We’ve been saying it for years and we stand by it that Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer is one of the absolute best podcasts out there whether you’re thinking about it in regards to comedy, dating, or podcasts in general. As WWYDM has been such a stellar podcast for years now, Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco has set its sights on and went ahead acquired it for their in-house podcast network. This takes WWYDM from Headgum over to Team Coco along with its deep, hysterical episode archive.

This also, very likely, means that Conan O’Brien will be a guest and that ought to be a WWYDM ep. for the ages.

Conan O’Brien to End Late Night Talk Show in 2021, Start Weekly Variety Series at HBO Max, Continue Conan Without Borders at TBS

November 17, 2020

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The elder statesman of late night, Conan O’Brien is actually stepping away from the world of late night after nearly 30 years of being one of late night’s best voices. Announced today, O’Brien will end his run as a late night talk show host that spans Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and now, Conan on TBS, in June 2021.

“In 1993 Johnny Carson gave me the best advice of my career: ‘As soon as possible, get to a streaming platform.’ I’m thrilled that I get to continue doing whatever the hell it is I do on HBO Max, and I look forward to a free subscription,” says O’Brien.

If you’re already lamenting his exit, do know that so many of the best elements of all of his shows over the last several years will live on. Conan Without Borders, O’Brien’s global travel specials will continue to be made over at TBS and Conan will also embark on a new weekly variety series. We’d guess will feature so many of the bits, stand-ups, remote segments and more that have made Conan endure all these decades as one of late night’s best. So, Conan O’Brien will very much be continuing to do so much of what he does best.

Personally, we can’t wait to see what Conan will do with the freedom of being on a streaming platform like HBO Max as well as where else he’ll travel to for the travel Conan Without Borders specials.

Audio Production Continues To Expand Under COVID-19 as Team Coco Signs Overall Deal with Audible

October 5, 2020

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Whether it be television or movies, the prospect of production moving forward during the pandemic is still largely uncharted territory, which is why there are still plenty of stops and starts with devising, observing, and reevaluating safety protocol with crews and talent gathering to shoot something.

So, the allure of production that can largely be down remotely and with very few people gathering has gone up. Plenty of shows that were live action have done special animated episodes or gone with a very special episode that has a high end Zoom look/feel to it.

Audio productions, limited series or podcasts, have also ticked up as they indeed can be entirely done remotely and Team Coco is taking advantage of that angle. They just signed an over-all deal to develop and produce all sorts of audio projects whether they be scripted, unscripted, docu-series, or something else altogether. They’ve already broken ground in this area with the likes of the delightful Frontier Tween, not to mention the massive success of the podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.

Already, Team Coco has their first series lined up with A Total Switch Show takes a more darkly comic turn on the well-trodden premise of two very different people switching bodies, though they won’t get to switch back no matter what they do or how much they grow. Real life mother and daughter Lea Thompson and Zoey Deutch are set to star for this Team Coco x Audible series.

We have no doubt that Team Coco’s already burgeoning audio empire will burgeon even more following this deal.

Watch Daniel Sloss and Beth Stelling Dissect Their Conan Sets on “The Set Up”

October 2, 2020

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Stand-up comedy, as you might now from following/reading us, is quite the particular art form. Within that form, a comedian’s set on a late night talk show is an even more particular part of the art form that is so painstakingly crafted as it’s often a comedian’s intro to the world and it has to accomplish showing who one is as a comedian in a very small amount of time.

Yet, many a great comedian pulls such a feat off.

To further show how detailed the process is with a late night set, Conan has started a series The Set Up where longtime, beloved booker JP Buck chats with some of his favorite comedians and his favorite performances of his on Conan. There are already two episodes featuring the brilliance of Daniel Sloss and Beth Stelling that you ought to give a watch to here and here respectively.

Conan Has a Nemesis In His Cardboard Audience at Largo

September 17, 2020

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Late night is still experimenting with how to account for the fact that they can’t have a live audience like they used to. Most are still going without any sort of crowd even though they’re returning to their stage. Bill Maher is having limited, distanced audience.

Always one for a bit when there’s even the slightest chance for one, Conan O’Brien has opted to pack Largo, where he has been taping for weeks now, with cardboard cut outs of ardent Team Coco fans. Of course, Conan made sure, with complete control over how this audience could look, made sure to have one cut out of a very clearly dissatisfied person in the crowd.

Even during a pandemic, Conan’s brand of sly daftness can’t be held down. Please enjoy here and brighten your day a bit.

Please Enjoy the Trailer for Beth Stelling’s HBO Max Special “Girl Daddy”

August 10, 2020

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Starting soon, HBO Max will start their roll out of their stand-up specials, continuing HBO’s expansion into the streaming space. Several months ago, Conan and HBO had struck a deal to produce a handful of comedy specials exclusively for the streaming service. They got to taping some of them, and then, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, interrupting any and all production.

Thankfully, the always splendid and delightful Beth Stelling got her special Girl Daddy in the can before all of that happened and will thusly be releasing her special next week on Thurs. Aug. 20th at HBO Max. A trailer for Girl Daddy was just posted today and shows off more of Beth’s signature undeniable warmth and sharp wit.

Give it a watch here, while you wait for next week to start streaming (you can and should also go watch/listen to everything else Beth’s done in the meantime; it’ll really make your day).

Trailer is here for my @hbomax special Girl Daddy pic.twitter.com/LCuVAQ1cp5

— Beth Stelling (@BethStelling) August 10, 2020

Please Enjoy Jamel Johnson Weighing in on Various Neighborhood Black Lives Matter Posters

August 6, 2020

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Jamel Johnson has been one of a handful of comedians that have found a way for to make comedy work for them under quarantine. Johnson, pretty much at the start of lockdown, recorded and released a great stand-up special without an audience.

Johnson continues to pull off bits and shenanigans, the latest being a bit for Team Coco.

While Johnson isn’t technically a professional art critic and is very clearly wearing a wig, him going around LA and giving his hot takes on various Black Lives Matters posters and “art” is worth him saying he is an art critic and all of us believing that is his real hair.

Please enjoy Johnson’s neighborhood BLM art tour here

Team Coco’s HBO Max Comedy Specials Start Streaming Next Month; More to Come Soon

July 23, 2020

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Right before lockdown, Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco managed to shoot two hour long comedy specials, destined for HBO Max, from the amazing Beth Stelling and James Veitch. More specials that they had planned to shoot got postponed because of COVID-19 shutting down production right around their shoot dates.

Still, those special are set to start streaming on HBO’s newly minted HBO Max next month in an announcement made yesterday.

Also, hour specials from Chris Redd and Moses Storm that had been previously slated for production, along with shorter specials featuring the likes of comedians that you really ought to know already: Naomi Ekperigin, Solomon Georgio, Tommy Johnagin, and Ismo. The dates for when those will happen and subsequently released are TBA. We’re assuming that the nature of the dates will depend on how protocol on TV production with any sort of live audience might change (as that’s not really happening right now) over the next few months.

In any case, you have two new hour comedy specials that are coming in a few weeks from the HBO and Team Coco side of things rather than at Netflix, which is still pretty much on pace for releasing a comedy special every week.

Watch Laurie Kilmartin Recount Her Live-tweeting the Passing of Her Mom to COVID-19 on Conan

July 9, 2020

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Recently, comedian/writer/podcaster Laurie Kilmartin sadly had to experience the loss of her mother to COVID-19. Already, Kilmartin has spoken candidly and made some of the best jokes and books about the passing of a loved one (the book is Dead People Suck) when her father succumbed to lung cancer.

During the passing of her mother, Laurie tweeted updates and jokes as a way to both process what was happening in real time and give a more visceral glimpse of how COVID-19 steals life away from someone. As with so much of Laurie’s humor, it was dark, hysterical, and incredibly poignant.

Last night, Laurie got to further detail the entire ordeal on Conan and maintained the poise, vulnerability, and sharpness that always made her one of our favorites. Please watch her interview here.

And Conan O’Brien Begins His Run at Largo with No Audience

July 7, 2020

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For our money, the best bits in late night, pandemic or not, have been coming from Conan and the Team Coco team. From the get go of lockdown, Conan delved into such tomfoolery as demonstrating how to disinfect a jigsaw puzzle.

Now, months later, he’s still getting his kicks by starting to do Conan at the gorgeous, yet almost entirely empty Largo theater as you can see with this opening here.

W. Kamau Bell Talks Frankly with Conan O’Brien ‘Showing Your Work’ for Non-Black People

June 4, 2020

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Again, W. Kamau Bell is one of the voices in comedy right now that should be heard. For so many years, Bell has simultaneously spoken so concisely and comedically to so many crucial issues, especially when it comes to race.

You can clearly see in this lengthy conversation that he had with Conan O’Brien last night on Conan where they discuss the murder of George Floyd, the protests, the response to the protests, anti-racism, white supremacy, and, above all, the importance of “showing your work”. Kamau even goes and directly asks Conan about his opinion on the existence of systemic white supremacy in America as well as assigning another white person to be responsible for Conan’s whiteness.

It’s a great conversation and perhaps an illuminating way to think of how to engage with privilege, even with folks that are clearly allies. Watch it here.

Please Enjoy Nikki Glaser and Conan O’Brien’s 1/2 Hour Interview

May 15, 2020

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Whenever Nikki Glaser has been the guest on Conan, there’s a conversational spark and an effortless weaving in and out of bits, stories, riffing. It’s all of those elements that comprise what late night talk show interviews are supposed to be.

Glaser and Conan O’Brien’s dynamic is so great that, even while Zooming in quarantine for their interview, they went just over a half hour and maintained the same sort of zip that they have had in studio for years. It’s effectively longer than many half hour stand-up specials.

Please enjoy Nikki and Conan’s full interview here from last night’s Conan at Home.

Conan O’Brien Finds a Way to Still Attempt to Get Under Jordan Schlansky’s Skin While in Quarantine

April 23, 2020

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Welp, all you need to truly know here is that the hysterically manipulative relationship between Conan O’Brien and human-that-might-fail-the-Turing-Test Jordan Schlansky is exactly the same, global pandemic be damned.

Please enjoy the latest installment of Jordan remaining the composure of automaton as Conan gets as devilishly mischievous as he has ever been.

Conan O’Brien Joins the Baking While in Sheltering-in-Home Trend

April 2, 2020

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Conan O’Brien proves once again that he can make a bit out of anything and pretty much from everywhere, even while sheltering at home. Please enjoy his latest self-isolation bit here.

Conan To Return March 30th (with a Quarantine Friendly Version)

March 19, 2020

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You probably have already seen that Conan O’Brien has been providing us with the sort of bits and tomfoolery that made him famous from the comfort and CDC recommended location of his own home. Leave it to the likes of Conan O’Brien to keep the silliness alive during these anxious times of this COVID-19 pandemic.

Other late night hosts have been also “broadcasting” from home, but the ever clever O’Brien has devised a way to do his show by shooting on an iPhone and utilizing video chat to interview guests.

Thus, Conan, will continue to air in this stripped down version (that’s oddly both lo-fi and high-tech) on TBS starting Mon. Mar. 30th at his normal air time of 11PM ET/PT. Technically, that makes Conan entirely a remote segment, which is where O’Brien has truly thrived in the last few years.

We can’t wait to see Conan do what he does best, make TV history, and inadvertently be a great ad for the iPhone’s video capabilities.

HBO Max Announces 5 Comedy Specials from Team Coco, New Looney Tunes, and New Comedy Series from Elizabeth Banks, Issa Rae, and Mindy Kaling

October 30, 2019

Uncategorized

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As the world is on the precipice of Apple TV+, HBO is taking a big swing for their own streaming service, HBO Max, with regards to their comedy programming.

Just today, they made this flurry of announcements.

Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco will be producing five stand-up special, two of which will be with multiple comedians and three of which will be full hours (Deadline). A new batch of Looney Tunes (Deadline), a DC Universe series from Elizabeth Banks, a female rap group comedy from Issa Rae, and a coming-of-age-in-college sitcom from Mindy Kaling (Deadline) are all on the way.

If you’ve been following the trail of HBO Max, you know that this is only the tip of the iceberg for them. So, are you ready to cue Futurama’s most famous meme yet?

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend Returns Next Monday

October 1, 2019

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Conan O’Brien arrived into the wide world of podcasting with Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and hit the ground running. Getting to hear a Conan without the worry of network censors or having to cut segments short has been truly engrossing (as well as further confirming that Conan can find the funny in nearly any situation) and instantly a hit.

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, after some time off (so O’Brien could go to Greenland and such), is finally coming back this Mon., Oct. 7th and you can look forward to perking your ears up for a great row of guests including Paul Rudd, Ellen DeGeneres, David Letterman and Tina Fey.

If you haven’t gotten into Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, now would be great time to binge listen and catch up.

Please Enjoy Team Coco’s First Scripted Podcast “Frontier Tween”

September 26, 2019

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As Team Coco has had immense success with their foray into podcasting via Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, they’re expanding their slate to include scripted podcasts.

Their first release Frontier Tween is a hoot of a series from Jen Jackson, Louisa Kellogg, and Katy Yeiser that features quite the cast in Maria Bamford, Kerri Kenney, Mary Sohn, Tim Baltz, Jen Jackson, and Conan O’Brien. As the title suggests, a follows the life of one Tilly Mulch, a so-called Frontier Tween, and her life coming-of-age in the wide open plains.

The writing is charming, not unlike the warmth of a fire at a genuine country diner, and Bamford’s performance, per usual, is absolutely engrossing and so hilarious.

Get a small taste of Frontier Tween in this trailer.

If you’re into it, get into Frontier Tween over at Luminary Podcast here.

Jena Friedman Hits the Mark on America’s True Crime Obsession on Conan

September 18, 2019

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That always-bandied-about thrill that stand-up comedy supposedly can provide by bringing light to the dark topics, even when it acts like a bit of twisted fun house mirror that you’re looking into is very hard to achieve (making it all the more magical when a comedian does so while also being, of course, very funny).

When it comes to the subject of “pushing boundaries” and “taking risks” in the art form of stand up comedy, one should look to Jena Friedman to see how that can be pulled off.

It’s kind of her thing.

We’d even go so far as to say that Jena’s stand-up, always unafraid to sneak into dark territories, showcases, very clearly, how artful stand-up can be.

Just see for yourself in Jena Friedman’s latest set all about the American obsession with true crime on Conan.

Team Coco Is Taking Over Comedy Clubs Across the Country on the Weekend of Oct. 3rd

September 10, 2019

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All in one fell swoop from Thurs. Oct. 3rd-Sat. Oct. 5th, Team Coco will be putting their live comedy stamp from ATL to LA and Minneapolis all the way down to Austin.

They’ll be having the fantastic comedic stylings Ron Funches, Kyle Kinane, Christina P., Roy Wood Jr., Laurie Kilmartin, and many more performing at several comedy clubs across the country all under the Team Coco House umbrella.

As Conan O’Brien himself has remarked, “This is exactly like ‘Oceans’ 11,’ only instead of robbing multiple casinos we are making people laugh in multiple comedy clubs. So, it’s really nothing like ‘Oceans’ 11’”

Get more details and tickets for Team Coco House here.

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