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Shadowing practice: CONANs Best Celebrity Interviews Volume One

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
Line 1

Full transcript

  1. Hey to help celebrate our 11 years of shows at TBS, we're putting together montages of some of our favorite show highlights.0:00
  2. We've had a lot of amazing guests over the years.0:05
  3. Take a look.0:08
  4. I wanna do something better than a selfie.0:09
  5. So I did a selfishie.0:12
  6. But I let him be the star of the selfishie.0:15
  7. First selfishie ever with two celebrities in it.0:18
  8. There we are.0:21
  9. I like you.0:24
  10. I like you too.0:26
  11. I like you.0:27
  12. I mean, I think you're good.0:29
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  1. Thank you.0:30
  2. Yes, thank you very much.0:31
  3. Others different, but I think they're good.0:32
  4. You were hosting the 2015 MTV Movie Awards that is this weekend, Sunday.0:34
  5. Sunday.0:40
  6. And I hosted that thing last year and it is different than all of the other award shows.0:41
  7. It is?0:45
  8. Yeah, they asked me, they said they wanted to like make it funny again.0:46
  9. Yeah.0:49
  10. And uh...0:49
  11. Oh no, she did!0:52
  12. Do you go in the water or the ocean a lot?0:54
  13. Are you, because some people hate the ocean.0:56
  14. No, I like the ocean.0:57
  15. I do, I like the ocean very much.0:58
  16. Yeah.1:00
  17. That's great.1:01
  18. Do you float a lot in the ocean?1:01
  19. Sure.1:06
  20. What do you sink?1:07
  21. Might be that cast iron heart.1:09
  22. I was on stage.1:14
  23. I moved the stool next to me just slightly and it made this weird noise.1:15
  24. And it caused the entire audience to laugh collectively.1:20
  25. And I was like, oh, that's all you guys needed?1:24
  26. I feel like maybe some of you aren't into it.1:39
  27. I noticed that you drive the Tesla and a very popular car out here in Los Angeles.1:43
  28. The electric car.1:48
  29. Electric car, yeah.1:49
  30. It's in the shop, now we're having a gas engine put in it.1:50
  31. But I love it.1:52
  32. I love it.1:53
  33. That's a nice car.1:53
  34. There's nothing better than Ronald Reagan swearing.1:54
  35. Really?1:57
  36. What the fuck are you talking about?1:58
  37. There's nothing greater in all of comedy.2:01
  38. The only thing better goes way back is Jimmy Stewart swearing.2:05
  39. Oh yeah.2:08
  40. Yeah, well how you doing?2:08
  41. Yeah, well pretty good.2:10
  42. How are you doing?2:11
  43. Yeah, well fuck you.2:13
  44. You have a bird on your...2:17
  45. On your shoulder.2:22
  46. You know what Conan?2:27
  47. Here's the deal.2:30
  48. I'm happy to come on your show.2:31
  49. And I'm happy to talk about the movie, Get Hard.2:32
  50. I'm happy to talk about, you know, anything.2:37
  51. But I don't wanna talk about my personal life, okay?2:40
  52. We're not here with Shaq.2:46
  53. Does he try and trash talk?2:48
  54. Does he try and get inside your head?2:49
  55. What's it like at this point?2:51
  56. Nah, not at all.2:51
  57. Not at all.2:53
  58. Does he say anything to you?2:54
  59. If he did, I wouldn't understand him anyway.2:56
  60. Which one do you want?3:02
  61. I want the Jeep.3:03
  62. You want the pink Jeep?3:04
  63. I hate to pull these with ropes.3:05
  64. So we play basketball.3:15
  65. We gotta get back to the movie set.3:17
  66. Shaq has to take a shower.3:19
  67. So everyone's like, all right, we'll see you later Shaq.3:23
  68. In my head, I'm like, I gotta see Shaq's penis.3:25
  69. So.3:27
  70. It's just not...3:31
  71. I can't pass up that opportunity.3:34
  72. You just, I mean, for historical reasons.3:36
  73. Yeah, it's not a gay thing.3:38
  74. It's just like, gotta see that.3:39
  75. I'm walking backwards, doing my routine, getting closer to the shower, and then I turn around.3:43
  76. And I go, all right, I gotta see Shaq's thing right now.3:48
  77. His bodyguard is there.3:51
  78. And his bodyguard is just so strong and big.3:53
  79. And like this thick neck, bald head, with his one eye, he's looking at me with his one eye.3:59
  80. So I said, sorry, I was just trying to see Shaq's penis.4:06
  81. So I see Shaq later on the set.4:12
  82. And I was like, I guarantee that guy ratted me out.4:14
  83. So I said, Shaq, sorry about that before with your security guard.4:17
  84. And he goes, I don't got a security guard, that was my dick.4:23
  85. I suggested that we do some sort of, you know, choreograph stunt thing.4:28
  86. And your producer said that you would not be into that.4:33
  87. No, he's not supposed to just unilaterally say, no, we don't do this.4:36
  88. He's supposed to ask me.4:38
  89. That makes me so mad.4:39
  90. Frank, get out here.4:40
  91. Yeah, why didn't you tell me about this?4:41
  92. I didn't think it was a good idea.4:43
  93. Well, let me just, you didn't think it was a good idea.4:45
  94. I actually decided to bring a backup guest tonight.5:08
  95. I'm sorry, I'm doing this a long time.5:15
  96. I've never heard of anyone bringing a backup guest.5:17
  97. I just think it would make, you know, it would make me feel a bit better because I don't know how this is gonna go.5:20
  98. So that way, if it's not working or my story's not good, you have the ability to switch over to another guest.5:25
  99. Susan, do you wanna come out now?5:35
  100. Oh!5:38
  101. Thank you.5:42
  102. How did you get Susan Sarandon to come out here?5:42
  103. How did you do that?5:48
  104. I got her through my booker.5:50
  105. I guess I have a better booker than you.5:53
  106. My whole life kinda grew up in this whole thing.5:56
  107. I was like, I don't like banks.5:59
  108. I think they're still in our money.6:00
  109. And then I worked at a bank and I was like, oh, I was right.6:01
  110. Okay, well, glad you didn't mention the name of the bank.6:09
  111. Well, Kobe, a bank.6:12
  112. Wow, that's a commercial we're not getting.6:16
  113. Still got those Folgers people though.6:22
  114. Oh, don't get me started on Fol...6:25
  115. Shut up!6:27
  116. Now we're out of you, punches.6:29
  117. Best part of waking up my ass.6:32
  118. I saw photos of you and your good friend, Mr.6:38
  119. Jason Bateman, hanging out together, paparazzi photos.6:41
  120. And these are real and I think you should probably explain.6:44
  121. Oh, there you go, that's nice.6:49
  122. Look at her.6:51
  123. Sometimes the paparazzi guys, they ride around on bikes and they ride ahead of you and then they get to the end of the block and they start snapping pics6:52
  124. and they wanna get you, like, you know, picking your nose or whatever.6:59
  125. And I said, the Bateman, I said, you know, let's go.7:02
  126. Let's have fun at their expense and just grab his hand.7:04
  127. And I feel like his internal monologue was finally...7:07
  128. By the way, you can tell by the photo, I'm the top.7:11
  129. Guys, come on!7:18
  130. What?7:19
  131. What is it, Andy?7:19
  132. Why don't you just settle it with the guitar off?7:20
  133. Nope Nope Nope Nope Nope Nope Nope The hole is out!7:34
  134. Catch the baby!7:59
  135. She's okay.8:34
  136. She's okay.8:37
  137. She's okay.8:38
  138. She's okay.8:40
  139. She's okay.8:40
  140. She's okay.8:43
  141. She's okay.8:43
  142. She's okay.8:44
  143. She's okay.8:44
  144. She's okay.8:44
  145. She's okay.8:44
  146. She's okay.8:44
  147. She's okay.8:49

A fast paced American interview clip for B1 english speaking practice

This clip is built from Team Coco's celebrity interview highlights: real, unscripted exchanges between Conan and a run of guests, not a written scene. It is rated B1 and moves at 220 words per minute, faster than 77 percent of the catalogue, so it works well as english speaking practice once you already know the words and need to say them at speed rather than slowly sound them out.

The accent is American throughout, which makes this useful for american accent training on real, quick speech instead of a studio recording. Because the interview keeps cutting between guests, you get short two or three word answers next to full sentences in the same minute, for example the clipped "I like you too" against the longer "And I hosted that thing last year and it is different than all of the other award shows." That contrast in rhythm is exactly what makes single lines worth repeating for daily english conversation practice, instead of watching the whole video once and moving on.

The colloquial turns in Conan's celebrity interview lines

A few lines are worth slowing down for before you try to practise english speaking at the clip's own pace.

  • "I wanna do something better than a selfie." The reduced "wanna" opens the whole selfishie bit; say it fast and the two syllables blur into one beat, which is how it actually sounds in the recording.
  • "But I don't wanna talk about my personal life, okay?" Another "wanna", but here the line ends on a rising tag, "okay?", that turns a flat statement into a request for agreement. Match that lift or the line reads as an order instead of a boundary being set politely.
  • "Yeah, well how you doing?" The auxiliary "are" is simply dropped before "you doing", which is normal in fast casual speech but never appears in a textbook. Notice too how "well" sits as a filler before the real question starts.

How to shadow this Conan O'Brien interview clip line by line

Work through the opening in this order rather than jumping around.

  • Start with line 4, "I wanna do something better than a selfie." It is short, the reduction is the whole point, and getting the "wanna" beat right here makes the rest of the clip easier.
  • Shadow this line next, line 63, "But I don't wanna talk about my personal life, okay?", and repeat it enough times to land the rising "okay?" without flattening it into a period.
  • Take the back and forth around lines 52 to 55, "Yeah, well how you doing?" answered by "Yeah, well pretty good", as one unit. Two speakers, two short turns: say both parts to feel the exchange's rhythm, not just one side of it.
  • Finish the opening block on line 36, "And it caused the entire audience to laugh collectively." It is the longest sentence in this stretch and carries the rare word "collectively", so use it to check you can keep pace through a full clause once the shorter lines feel automatic.
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