Ich bin ein Berliner! Conan O’Brien has become quite an accomplished world traveler, having brought his brand of comedy to far-flung locations such as Armenia, Cuba and Qatar over the past couple of years. His latest overseas journey, as documented in his new special, Conan Without Borders: Berlin (airing Wednesday, December 7, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on TBS), takes him to Germany (alongside German Pitch Perfect 2 star Flula Borg), where the late-night host says he found the locals marching to the beat of their own drums.
Chatting with reporters at a luncheon held at a German restaurant in Los Angeles, O’Brien explained his latest travel destination. “I’d never been to Berlin, and it had been so much in the news because of the refugee crisis,” he said. “I was very impressed with how cosmopolitan, how multicultural, how ethnically diverse it is. There’s probably a picture that people that don’t travel much or haven’t been to Berlin might think about Berlin, but whatever that is, it’s completely the opposite. It’s incredibly international, artistic, outspoken, and everyone is letting their freak flag fly!”
This newest special finds the comedian racing around the Autobahn, sampling local beer and sausages and even visiting a dominatrix named Lady Velvet Steel!
Me going to a dominatrix seemed like it would be compelling,” said O’Brien, “and it turned out to be even more compelling because she didn’t treat it like a joke! She wanted to put things inside of me and do things to me, and I kept trying to stop her but keep it on the line where it would still be comedic but not break my marital vows.” O’Brien assured Us that he didn’t acquire a newfound fetish. “I found nothing pleasurable about that” he quipped. “And I knew that what was funny about that was that my discomfort was real!”
Where in the world might we find Conan next? The host said he’s been talking to pal Nick Offerman about staying closer to home — and taking a road trip through America’s heartland. Explaining why Offerman would be an ideal travel buddy for this particular trip, O’Brien said, “In addition to being an incredible comedian and a great actor, he grew up on a soybean farm and builds furniture with his hands! He comes from that culture and he is not condescending about it.”
No matter where he goes though, the funnyman says the universal language of comedy translates perfectly all around the world. “I think we’ve been really proud of the fact that in Armenia and Cuba and South Korea, there have been many times where I’ve been with people who don’t know who I am, and they don’t speak my language, but I get them laughing.” he explained.
One thing that will be a constant is that he will always be the butt of the jokes. “They’re laughing at me! The joke is not on them, the joke is that I can’t do it, and I try to be respectful to their culture and the fact that they can do these things that I can’t do, and to me that feels like kind of a form of comedy as diplomacy, almost,” he said. “You go to these places and you make friends, and I show them that I really respect their culture and I’m trying to do it but I can’t. Obviously you run across every now and then the person who you can have some fun with, but I never want it to be that I went someplace and had fun at their expense or laughed at them.”
Conan Without Borders: Berlin airs Wednesday, December 7, at 10 p.m. ET on TBS.
