Best

we spotted him riding a bike and waved at him. i totally thought he’d just keep on riding past us but he actually stopped to talk to us! he was so nice! very cool and random experience lol

EDIT: sorry guys i posted this before flying back home and i just saw all the comments! to answer some of your questions: he was in amsterdam to shoot his hbo travel show. and that chain of zip ties on the front of his bike was to help support his 360 camera that was mounted on a pole. he just asked me where i was from and then i told him i watched his show and saw him on chicken shop date recently (idk why i said that lol). then i asked for a picture and we took a selfie! and then after he rode off a crew member working on his show approached us to sign release forms because our interaction was recorded.

Yes this is really Kumail.

I just wanted to say it has been a really overwhelming time in Los Angeles. We are feeling sadness, anxiety, fear, grief and loss. I have basically felt every negative emotion that I am capable of feeling these last few days. I have also seen a lot of glee over the fact that Los Angeles is on fire. It's been challenging.

But this subreddit has been a source of hope for me. I don't know why, but I have found your genuine concern for Conan, Sona, Matt and the rest of the gang to be lovely & inspiring. So, I just want to say: thank you for being a corner of warmth on this cold cold internet. Coming here has certainly helped me feel better. And a special thanks to the guy who wrote up that awesome post about Altadena! Altadena rules.

(And yes Conan really is as sweet, kind and genuine as he seems. He's been a comedic hero of mine for decades, but as I've gotten to know him, he has become an inspiration for me in a whole other way. He has shown me how to be a good human being.)

Yeah I'm being schmaltzy and over sincere. It's been a long week!

Ok that's all. Go about your days.

And thank you,

Kumail

I was really interested when Bill was revealed as the surprise guest. I think he's a smart guy and was curious how he'd respond to all the flak he's been getting for the Riyadh comedy fest. Instead, he went on a bizarre rant about how he did such an incredible act of good by doing this festival and that anyone upset at him is a moron who doesn't know where Saudi Arabia is on a map and must think everyone there is a "machete-wielding, people-beheading psychopath" because they've never actually been to the country like he now has. We couldn't believe how self-righteously he went on about how because he went and performed comedy there, he helped advance the people over there to be "closer to where we're at", that he's now able to see that the Saudis are people just like us because they like the same jokes, that his critics are just bots, and that the only way to make money these days is to troll and outrage people.

No acknowledgment of the fact that this was a government-sponsored event thrown as a tool for propaganda to whitewash an oppressive regime, and he took money directly from the government to perform for not just a bunch of regular citizens, but literally diplomats, the royal family, and the Saudi elite. And that he's literally a millionaire who doesn't need the money! And sorry but you don't need to know everything about a country to be upset about human rights violations.

What was most disappointing though was Conan acting as a yes-man, even comparing it to his travel show and how he's gone to plenty of countries that do things he doesn't agree with. So disappointing, and after realizing Conan, Sona, and Matt weren't gonna try to have an honest conversation with Bill, just agree with everything or stay silent, we were hoping it would move on but after a while it didn't seem like Bill wanted to talk about anything else so we just left... Seemed like the crowd was pretty split as well, and it just seemed like the wrong guest to have on as a surprise for a live show if it was just gonna be a tirade like that. After we left, we talked about how we can at least have some respect for Pete Davidson for just being honest about taking the money, even if we don't agree with his decision, and not whatever disingenuous rant Bill was going on against his straw man critics.

Edit: I wouldn't want to have wanted to watch Conan attack Bill, but it's also bad interviewing to let a guest go on a strange tirade and silently nod along. Even if you set aside morals and politics, it's just not interesting or entertaining. I know Conan is tactful enough to gently push back on a guest while making it funny and interesting and not offend the guest, or at least not let his friend go off the deep end publicly like that.

Soon as my cousins were verified by go fund me as victims they got their goal met. (This was during the fire like ten days ago) they told me someone donated a large amount and I looked at name and it was Conan O’Brien family.

Just want to say it wasn’t a small amount and I imagine he did this for a lot of people. Conan and his wife are angels! Thank you O’Brien family