‘Conan’ Writer Mike Sweeney: Mark Twain Prize, Oscars, and ‘Conan O’Brien Must Go’

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mike Sweeney started writing for Conan O’Brien 30 years ago and has been right there by his side ever since. His work has fueled not only the host’s two big late-night shows—with a tumultuous stint on the ‘Tonight Show’ in between—but also his recent gig hosting the Oscars and his newest project, the travel show ‘Conan O’Brien Must Go,’ which arrives Thursday, May 8 on Max. In this episode, Sweeney discusses this particularly momentous time in O’Brien’s career, including how Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center threatened to derail his acceptance of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (streaming Sunday, May 4 on Netflix). Instead, like with so much of their other work together, Sweeney and O’Brien found a way to marry a hopeful outlook on the world with deeply silly jokes.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Last Laugh.
0:07.2	I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast.
0:09.8	So, this coming Sunday night, Netflix will stream the ceremony in which Conan O'Brien received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
0:19.4	And just as has been the case for the past 30 years,
0:23.2	comedy writer Mike Sweeney will be right there with him. They started working together on
0:28.1	late night with Conan O'Brien, and Sweeney was there during everything that went down with
0:32.4	Jay Leno and The Tonight Show all the way up through Conan's very successful gig as Oscars host this year.
0:39.0	And now, as the director of their travel show, Conan O'Brien Must Go, which premieres May 8th
0:44.7	on Max, Sweeney is a bigger part of the Team Coco world than ever. So I thought this moment would
0:50.6	be such a perfect time to go deep with him on Conan's remarkable longevity
0:54.8	and Sweeney's place at the center of it all.
0:58.0	Before we get into the interview, here's a compilation of jokes that Mike Sweeney helped
1:02.9	write for Conan O'Brien at this year's Academy Awards.
1:07.3	A complete unknown.
1:08.8	A real pain.
1:10.2	Nils Farrakhu. These are just some of the names I was called on the red carpet. Okay. A complete unknown. A real pain. No Svaratu.
1:11.6	These are just some of the names I was called on the red carpet.
1:14.6	I love the brutalist. I really did.
1:17.6	I didn't want it to end, and luckily it didn't.
1:20.6	Movie Conclave is nominated for Best Picture tonight.
1:24.6	If you haven't seen Conclave, its logline, a movie about the Catholic Church, but don't worry.
1:35.3	Little fact for you, Nora uses the F word 479 times.
	...

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