Conan and Sona in Morocco

Hey there, welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend. I'm joined as always by Sonah Mopsassian. Hello. This is kind of a special moment in our podcast because we at the moment are in a car in Morocco. Sonah and I are in the back seat of the car. Yep. It is in the front seat shooting us, I think, for video capture and Rashid is our driver. Hello Rashid. Rashid is helping us out. He's driving and I may occasionally ask Rashid for any kind of help we might need, like content or humor. That's good. Yeah. So here's the story. Shooting an episode along with Sonah of Conan O'Brien Musco, a visitor to fan who lives in Casablanca. Yeah. So we flew into Casablanca, right, and we shot there for what, two days? Yeah, we were there for two nights. And we hung out with our fan who was very cool and we had a good time with him. Yes, sir. Then? Can you say his name? Are we allowed to? Yes. Yeah, go ahead. Yes, sir. Yeah. Yeah, he's cool guy. Yeah. Well, what'd you say can we say his name? I don't know. Is this, we can talk openly and say all the things? Well, yeah. We're safe. We're far from America. In the back seat of a car, I'm driving through the desert. So you can say whatever you want. Okay. I didn't know how much of the episode you wanted to discuss because I, I wish, I should have asked questions before we record it. Yeah. This is okay. I was talking about how we do it. And I just started. You started making yourself laugh really hard. I was going to launch into, you know, why we're here, where in the country we are, some of the customs and traditions, but you seconds before we started recording, started laughing really hard. And I asked you why. And you said, because there was that famous song, right? This is how we do it. And then you said online, there was a guy whose name is how we do it, right? And why don't you tell us something when you, when you control it, when you get yourself on the control. There's a picture of this guy. He's just a guy. And his name is howie. His first name is howie. And his last name is do it. Yeah. It just has the song looping that's saying, this is how we do it. Right. And how long were you, how long were you watching that for? It's not how long I watched it one time. It's how many times do I watch it in like a week? And what made you start laughing about this now in deep in Morocco, where the Algerian border? I don't know. Okay. I have no idea. Also, somebody saying the song and it makes me instantly think of that. I'm sorry. You know what? Ooh. Wow. That was cool. We were almost, almost hit the car ahead of us. Anyway, I'm sorry. It was not Rashid's fault because the car ahead of us hit the brakes. No. And it was a mom walking her child across the street. Yeah. Which is illegal. She shouldn't have to do that. Okay. So let me give everyone now that we got this is how we do it. Yes. Have your system flew into Casablanca, right? Then we finished up with the fan and it's time to go to the desert. Okay. Here's, I thought it was a funny part of the whole situation. We're at the airport in Casablanca. Yeah. And we can't leave because somehow our papers weren't in order. Yeah. And we couldn't get on our plane. So we were stuck in Casablanca because we didn't have our papers wrink. Of course, I nod to the famous film Casablanca and what's the whole plot of Casablanca? No one can leave because they don't have their exit visas. They're trapped. And so I kept going up to the officials and saying, you've got to help me wrink. You've got to help me wrink like Peter Laurie and they didn't know what I was talking about. Oh, they didn't know? No, they didn't know. And I was jailed for a while. Oh, maybe if you went as Ilsa, they would have been like, you know what? That was my mistake. I should have dressed up as Ilsa. Yeah. That would have been nice. I mean, I'm from Bogart. Yeah, shame. Yeah, shame. You know, just said, yeah, shame. Yeah. No, you should have done that. Well, we're there for what? Four hours. Yeah. But we were only supposed to be there 20 minutes. And anyone who knows me knows, I can do Peter Laurie going, "Well, I need my papers. I need my papers." I can do that for four hours easily. I could have got it for three days. You could. And you know what? When people don't get something I'm doing, I love it and I do it. I go twice as hard. I know. Yeah. I know. Do you ever get tired of your own bits? Oh, God, no. Is there ever a time when you're like, "Oh, I've been doing this for a long time." Nope. Nope. No. No. I'm always just so happy to be trapped inside this guy. Okay. What a weird way to put it. Finally, we get out of Casablanca, right? We get out of Casablanca. And we fly. We take a plane and we fly for, I don't know, 45 minutes an hour way to the east, right? To the, near the border because we want to have some, that sweet Sahara sand look, you know, the classic look of camels and dunes. What was the name of the place we stayed, Blay? Uh, it was in, it was in, it was in, it was in, it was in, this is Mirzogah. Mirzogah. Mirzogah. Mirzogah. Mirzogah. Mirzogah. We stayed in Mirzogah and we hung out there and it was incredibly hot. So hot that our, uh, camera equipment could fry. Yeah. Like melt down if we didn't, uh, keep it cool enough. And boy, did we found a place I'm never supposed to hang out, didn't we? Oh my God. I mean, it was a hundred and five in the shade. It was incredible. Just the, just the elements are working against your biology. Yeah. And I saw it in real time. Yeah. But it was fine. And it's beautiful. Yeah, it is. And I had some adventures there, uh, we had a very special treatment that'll be featured in the show where we get buried in sand, you and I, which is incredibly hot when they first do it and you think you're going to die, and then your body shuts down. You don't feel it anymore. So that was fun and yeah, I died for a while, I had to resuscitate me. That did not happen. Yeah. I was medevac to a hospital in Aspen, Colorado and then flown back to the shoot. So that's why this remote is taking us over nine years to shoot. Then today was the day where we need to drive, because we're now making our way to Marrakesh. Yeah. So to get to Marrakesh is a very long drive. We are on our way to Quarza Zate. Quarza Zate. Is that right Rashid? Quarza Zate. Quarza Zate. I think the way I said it was more accurate for shade. Oh my God. It was so rude of you to correct me. Do I correct you when you say Newton North or Brooklyn high? It's two things he's never said in his life, and we'll never say. He says, hey, let's go over to Roxbury and let's get a roast beef sandwich at Buzzie's roast beef. I don't start parsing his pronunciations. Anyway, we are going to fly from Quarza Zate to Marrakesh. Then we'll be in Marrakesh and we'll shoot there. And Marrakesh is going to have, that's going to be a little more luxe, I think. It's going to be a lot of shops and bazaars and stores. Maybe you'll buy you something. A lot. You'll buy them. You'll buy them in a lot of stuff. Well, no, I can't. I don't have a lot of money. Okay. Very famously, I've not done well. I'll just charge it to the show. You can't. Okay. I just want a lot of stuff. I want a bag. I want stuff for the boys. I want something for a tack. I want stuff for my house. Okay. I'm just going to end now. Okay. Yeah. I'm just going to end that now. So we are on our way to Marrakesh and that got me thinking, it would be great if we could sing a song in the car about going to Marrakesh. And then, of course, there's that Crosby Stills Nash song. Oh, I thought you were going to say, this is how we do it. No. Okay. But not my first thought. You know, blood, you know, this song, all aboard that train, the media, Marrakesh, all aboard. Well, listen, I bring it up for a reason. I've never liked that song. Oh, no. I don't love that song, and it's the only song I know that's about Marrakesh. And so I thought we should come up with our own song about Marrakesh. Okay. And then maybe we can use it on this travel show. Oh, that sounds fun. And if it catches on, we own the rights. Yeah. If it catches on, you know, I'm tone deaf. But it's okay. I'll do my best. Yeah. So what are you thinking? Any ideas for a song on our way to Marrakesh? Marrakesh. Oh, Marrakesh. It's a land of things to buy. And it's. You weren't kidding when you said tone deaf. I forgot. Really bad. You can't. Oh, Marrakesh. What? What are you doing? What are you contributing today? You sound like you're not even that interested in Marrakesh. Like Marrakesh passed you. It's near by. It's kind of across the street. You don't really want to say hi to Marrakesh. You want Marrakesh. Do you know what I mean? You don't want to stop a chat with Marrakesh. It's supposed to be a revelatory. Marrakesh, like, disdew. You've got some beef with Marrakesh, but you still kind of like Marrakesh, but you're not ready to talk yet. That's the way you just greeted Marrakesh. - Maybe it's a diss track to Marikesh. Yo, this is Marikesh. Marikesh can suck it. - Okay, you don't wanna do that. - No, no, no, no, I don't wanna go that way. - Not what we're talking about. - I'm actually, and I don't mean it 'cause I'm actually really excited. - No one, you know the great thing about you, Sona, no one listens to anything you're really saying. They sort of, they get the gist, but no one would be offended even in living in Marikesh. - When I first started singing the O Marikesh one, that was me kind of trying to do O Canada with O Marikesh, and it didn't work, but what's yours? ♪ Moving along, along the Marikesh ♪ ♪ Moving along, along the Marikesh ♪ ♪ I could put my troubles on the back of a camel ♪ ♪ Moving along, I gotta go to Marikesh ♪ ♪ Break down ♪ - No, wouldn't you beatbox, you kill it. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. When you, when you, also what genre was that? - I don't know. - It started folky, and then you started doing a beatbox, and that doesn't make sense. - Okay, hold on, well sometimes you're supposed to mix genres, and that creates a whole new genre, and then you're remembered forever. - Oh, you're being an innovator. - Yeah, well anyway, we'll think about that. I don't know the between us. We're gonna come up with this song for Marikesh. - Marikesh. - I don't know if we're gonna come up with it a Marikesh. - Marikesh? - Hey, I wanna have a sash in Marikesh. - Yeah. - Isn't that set short for Sash and Sash? - Sash, yeah. - I wanna. - But what kind of sash? - Sex Sash. - I wanna have a sex Sash and Marikesh. I wanna have, hey, Rashida's laughing. Rashida, do you like this? I want it. What's that? You like it? - I'm going to have a sex Sash. - Marikesh. - Marikesh. - He loves it. - I don't think anyone's ever called it a Sash before. - Well, you know what I like? - A sex Sash. - A sex Sash is you're having, you're hooking up, you're knocking boots, but you're also keeping records for your tax attorney. You're monitoring the time. You're making sure that any suggestions made during sex are kept and sent to an inter-office memo. I'm gonna have a sex Sash. In Marikesh, I don't know. - It's the least sexy a song I think I've ever heard. - Well, but one of the least sex is not the least sexy, so that means it's kind of sexy. - What? Oh, I guess. Yeah, no, it's just not, it's just a bad song. - What do you think so far? What are your observations about Morocco? - First of all, I love how they drive. I think Americans are a little uptight, but these guys, you know, if someone's in front of them and they're driving slow, they just pass them. - Yeah, even if cars are coming in the other direction. - Even if cars, they'll be with chill. - Even if everyone's killed, they still don't mind. - Yeah, oh, oh God. - Another thing that I have noticed, the food is great. I mean, Moroccan food, always great. - Every meal has been-- - Every meal we have is fantastic. - To eat! - And then I realized on this trip, I love camels. And then-- - Camels are cool, the very smart. They seem like they have, they're very soulful. - Yes. - And a man, you're up so high when you're on a camel, it's fantastic. - I almost fell off getting on and off. - That would have been good. I mean, it's, no, it would have been good footage if you're falling off, 'cause if we could play it, you falling and then bloop, backwards, and then falling off again and backwards and put sound effects on it, boy, yoy, yoy, yoy, yoy, yoy. - I don't know why that's what you think of. You should have, how about like, oh, I'm so glad you didn't, so now it's nice that you didn't fall off the giant. - Yeah, it's really funny to put a sound effect to someone not falling off a camel. That's hilarious. How you doing up there? Well, I'm perfectly comfortable and I'm setting very steady on this camel, boy, yoy, yoy, yoy. That's not funny. - Come on. - You can't do that yoyo sound. - Woo, woo, woo, bye, yoy, yoy. - I think I would enjoy the desert as much as I can. - I know you would have loved your, if you would have done America's funniest home videos, but all the videos were a kid walking very carefully around a pool and not falling. Someone walking in with a tray of meatballs and none of them fall off, but you put funny sound effects to it. - Yeah. - There's some meatballs and they look just fine, boy, yoy, yoy, yoy, yoy, yoy. - As they set them down on the table and nothing bad happens, wouldn't that be a great America's funniest home videos? - That way. You just make normal mundane videos. - Yeah, there's grandpa on the, his grandpa on the diving board. And oh, that was a nice simple dive and he seems fine. Boy, yoy, yoy, yoy, yoy, yoy. I'm gonna have a sex session in Mara's set. Wait, gonna have a sex session in Mara's set. - I don't like how you're doubling down on this song, the sex session, Mara Keshe. It doesn't even roll off the tongue. Can you say it three times fast? - Gonna have a sex session in Mara Keshe. Gonna have a sex session in Mara Keshe. - Sex session in Mara Keshe. - That's not, he needs a sex session in Mara Keshe. - Okay, that was good. - Not bad. - Yeah, not bad. - This will catch on, it will be huge. - Not long. - Hey, do your trampry go. It's gonna be huge. - It's gonna be, my trip is gonna be huge. - Yeah, it's gonna be huge. - What? It's gonna be huge. - Can you wear the worst impression? - I really am bad. - Yeah. - But you know what, I commit, I try. Do you do it? - No, I can't do it. And he's not a big enough figure. And he's not, I don't think enough people sort of know how he talks or find him ridiculous. So how can you, how can you do an impression of someone like that? - Oh, I just did. - But okay, you can't do it. That's right. - You're rolling along, rolling along, or on our way to the next flight. This has been a lot of travel. But you know what, I've noticed, when we sit down and have the food, I keep thinking the same thing. And I keep saying so now, is this what it's like in your family? Because it's lots of plates that are filled with various dips and bread. - Yes. - And everyone reaches in and gloop, gloop, gloop. And I thought, this must be very much your home and everyone's sort of shouting and having fun. I mean, our crew. - You were asking this question, I couldn't tell if you were like making fun of me. - No, no, no. Or if you were actually saying it. - You are a meanian, you were not Moroccan. - Yes. - But I've noticed that there are certain similarities. There's baba ganouche, which you love. There's various flat breads. There's a lot of fresh wholesome vegetables. - Yeah. - And of course the chickens are amazing. - Yeah, they're so good. - But it just made me think of your family. - It's like a collection of little plates and dips and bread and then the main dishes. Yes, in that way, yes. And are we loud? - Yeah. - You guys are very loud. - Okay, well you guys weren't loud. Six kids. - Nothing like you. - You loudest person. You're the loudest mammal of encountered. (laughing) I'm including other, you know. I mean, just, it's incredible. - I, no. - I once tried. - Am I? - I once tried to help. - Pretty loud. - I once tried to help a bear that was screaming for its life out of a bear trap. And you were twice as loud as that bear. And when I let the bear out of the trap, it attacked me. 'Cause it was my trap. - I have a hard time. - I set the trap. - I'm moving on. I had a hard time believing you and your five siblings. - We were loud. - We were like precious sitting, eating your ham and your potatoes and your boiled food. - Each one of us had our own ham and it hung on a rope above where we sat at the table. So there were six kids, my mom and my dad and my grandmother. So that's nine hams hanging from nine ropes around a circular table in the kitchen on Canard Road and Brooklyn. - It's like oxygen, oxygen mask falling from an airplane. - Yeah, in an emergency, a ham would drop down. And we'd all bat at it and gah, gah, gah, gah, gah, gah. And then you know, it was like that scene in the first Jurassic Park, where when it's over that person on the roof would raise the hams and they would come up and it was just bones and pieces of metal twisted cage. I just added the cage in there. - So you were loud too, but we're loud. - We've drifted, anyone who's tuning in right now has no idea that we're in the back seat of a car driving through the desert in Morocco on our way to Marrakesh. - Yeah, if you're just tuning in to this podcast. - If you're just tuning in. Well, I don't know how it works. - How do you not know how it works? It's been like eight years that you've been doing one. - Picasso didn't understand how the paints were made. - What? - He used the, he used the medium in a masterful way and defined a generation, really created 20th century art. So I think I'm doing the same thing with whatever this is. I don't even have to know what it is. But we're in Morocco and this is cool. We're on the, I've never been to Marrakesh, have you? - I've never been to Africa. - Oh, that's right. And I haven't traveled with you since like 2017, I think. - That's right, it's been fun having you. I will say that you've been a great addition. - I miss this. - We've been having a really good time. And I think you couldn't come for a long time because your kids were so little. Now they're old enough, you were face-timing with them the other day and I got on and they get, they know who I am obviously. And I mean, they're Godfather. - Yeah. - I'm gonna make them enough of the camera shoes. - Isn't that funny? That's pretty topical. - Yeah, that's good. That's very topical. - Yeah. And-- - It's all the rage right now. - It's a movie, Godfather. - Yeah. - There's all your power. If you don't, you scale. I want his mother to feel like this. - That's-- - Is that Trump? - That's my Trump. (laughing) - You's all your power. You're all your power. I'm the economy. - That's, you know what's funny? I'm doing political comedy right now. - Yeah, I know. - And it's very edgy. - Yeah. - And also the New York Times is gonna love it 'cause it's very smart and incisive. - You know what? - Yeah. - You know what I'm gonna do to, uh, I'm gonna make him an offer they can't refuse right that's just mean that's I'm gonna get all of the best prizes for being smart But they can refuse it and they have refused it listen, but that's part of oh This is I can't believe I'm a satirist now. Yeah, you are okay. I'm pretty in size of uh, but yeah No, you're their godfather. They saw you. They were really excited They love their uncle Conan, but what I'm saying is they can now handle you taking off So maybe you'll come on more trips. Yeah, I would love to come on more trips This was this has been so fun. It's nice. It's nice for me to get away And how does tank do looking after the kids when you're gone. He's great. He's such a good dad And he's able to handle it. He's on top of it. He feeds them get some ready for school Take some all about after school stuff. The kid's getting boring When you said feed them. I was like okay, now we're gonna get on the list of meeting basic human needs He waters them Make sure that how nervous was Liza every time she left you alone with your children Do you think she left me alone with the kids? No, no, no she would not I won't play better. I would use them for bits and they would be lost I'd say I don't know where they were the whole bit was they get on the bus. I don't know where it's going That's the bit Liza So no Liza's an incredibly smart woman and that's the last thing she would ever do. Yes And here's the thing. Oh wow Rashid so Rashid peeks around the truck look at us Then he guns it and passes the truck never she'd if you ever had a close call where you came around To to go forward and then you almost got nailed You know what? What do you say he doesn't want to talk about it? Wait, when do you go off-road? Off-road now or today? No. Okay. Have you ever gotten gotten close to an accident? Accidate for less night or what? No last night No one said last night She do just you just cover Rashid you're wanted for a hit and run Looking for you No wonder the front of the car is the last night last night Rashid you would be terrible in police questioning Sarah do you know anything about a crime last night? Murder last night me this sorority Rashid Oh my god, all right Rashid you're gonna have to be a regular part of the podcast now You're coming with us to Los Angeles. Yay You're gonna live with Sona and Tac and all of her relatives. You'll sit at a long table. We don't all live in one house Oh, please you know you will that's not how it works. You guys sleep in a bunk bed. It's 13 Bet's tall your dad's on the top, right? He puts little weights on his mustache, so it unfolds over the side of the bunk bed I love Gil you know that but he has a mustache It's ridiculous Don't say it's ridiculous. What? Gil's mustache is not ridiculous. No, he's a handsome man He's a good guy, but it makes him very easy. I can become Gil at any time by just sticking a napkin under my nose I'm saying Sona Sona. It's one of my better things that I do. Is it better? Is it one of your best impressions better than my Trump? And to make you know I can't refuse. I only do that because the movie's so new All right, so now we're gonna wrap it up, but this is exciting people are gonna hear this back home Yeah, and this is and look I'm gonna lower the window and you're gonna hear what it's like outside in Morocco This is you can hear the desert listen Oh I'm sorry me talking about tech feeding the kids was boring I'm trying to be international here. Hold on a second There's a uh-oh There's a policeman and he's looking at me holding the microphone up the window. Oh wait. He's looking scrolling through his phone We're okay. Anyway, I put the microphone out the window and it's just air passing over a microphone I didn't really think that through But I thought it was still fascinating in a worthwhile experiment Uh, okay. Well, Sona. I love this trip. I can't wait for people to see what we've been up to. Yes, and Let's continue with your regularly scheduled podcasts and remember Gonna have a success in America Right? No, I like mine better. Okay. Peace out Conan O'Brien needs a friend with Conan O'Brien Sonom of Sessian and Mac Goryley produced by me Mac Goryley Executive produced by Adam Sachs Jeff Ross and Nick Leo theme song by the white stripes Incidental music by Jimmy Vivina Take it away Jimmy Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair and our associate talent producer is Jennifer samples Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns additional production support by Mars Melnic talent booking by Paula Davis Gina Batista and Britt Conn you can rate and review this show on Apple podcasts and you might find your review read on a future episode Got a question for Conan call the team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message It too could be featured on a future episode You can also get three free months of serious xm when you sign up at serious xm.com slash Conan And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien needs a friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded You