Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

12 Clomp Program

February 19, 2026

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  • Film preservationist Joey, the guest on *Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend*, specializes in home movies because he finds 'micro-history' more telling than macro-history, noting the innocence and media-unawareness of subjects in older footage. 
  • Joey has encountered unusual client requests, including asking him to digitally remove siblings or add features like devil horns to figures in their preserved home movies. 
  • Joey's childhood obsession with his grandparents' 8mm home movies directly led to his career path, culminating in him having his own collection archived at the Academy Film Archive, where he also saw home movies from figures like Alfred Hitchcock and Charlie Chaplin. 

Segments

Guest Introduction and Prior Meeting
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(00:01:23)
  • Key Takeaway: Conan O’Brien recalls a prior, unusual interaction with guest Joey where Joey filmed him with a home movie camera in Cambridge, Mass, around 1975.
  • Summary: Joey confirms he filmed Conan previously at a bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, using a home movie camera estimated to be from around 1975. Conan jokingly asks what became of the clip, and Joey reveals he is using it in a forthcoming film about his life. Joey is a film preservationist based in Toronto.
Fascination with Home Movies
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(00:02:50)
  • Key Takeaway: Joey prefers preserving home movies over major studio films because they offer intimate, telling documentation of ‘micro-history’ and reveal universal themes alongside unique family dynamics.
  • Summary: Joey believes home movies are among the coolest historical documents because they show details like fashion, furniture, and mannerisms that contrast sharply with modern media-savvy behavior. He notes the innocence in old footage where people actively wave at the camera, unlike today’s oversaturated video culture. He cites seeing early 20th-century New York footage on Instagram as an example of this captivating historical window.
Bizarre Home Movie Editing Requests
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(00:06:46)
  • Key Takeaway: Clients frequently ask Joey to perform petty edits on their home movies, such as cropping out disliked siblings or adding visual alterations like devil horns.
  • Summary: Joey sometimes has to crop or mirror images to remove specific family members, like a sister, upon request due to bad relationships. He confirms he has fulfilled requests to add visual edits like devil horns or Hitler mustaches to certain individuals in the footage. Conan humorously suggests he would request multiple loving parents and a Jesus halo instead of removing siblings.
CarMax Ad Read and Car Buying
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(00:11:13)
  • Key Takeaway: CarMax offers a flexible car buying/selling process that can be managed entirely online, in person, or a hybrid of both, including a pre-qualification tool that doesn’t impact credit scores.
  • Summary: CarMax aims to simplify the car buying or selling experience, allowing customers to operate on their own terms. Customers can shop online, visit a location, or combine both methods. The pre-qualification tool allows users to check personalized monthly payments without affecting their credit score.
Disney/Pixar’s ‘Hopper’ Promotion
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(00:12:49)
  • Key Takeaway: The upcoming Disney/Pixar film Hopper features a protagonist who uses technology to communicate with animals by temporarily becoming a beaver, leading to unintended consequences.
  • Summary: The movie Hopper centers on Mabel, an animal lover who uses technology to transform into a beaver to speak with animals. Her efforts go awry when she accidentally incites the animals to plot against humans. The film was scheduled for release in theaters on March 6th.
T-Mobile Perks and Couch Life
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(00:13:19)
  • Key Takeaway: T-Mobile plans offer benefits like Netflix standard with ads included, encouraging customers to embrace ‘couch life’ by ordering takeout and binge-watching shows.
  • Summary: While T-Mobile travel perks are useful, customers can enjoy benefits without leaving home, including deals on DoorDash. Qualifying lines receive Netflix standard with ads included in their plan. The value increases the more benefits a customer utilizes.
Granger Industrial Supply Ad Read
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(00:14:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Granger is positioned as a trusted partner for manufacturing plant purchasing managers, specializing in auto reordering for essential supplies like cut-resistant gloves.
  • Summary: Granger provides on-time restocks through its auto reordering system, ensuring teams have necessary safety equipment, such as cut-resistant gloves, at the start of their shifts. Purchasing managers can contact them via phone, website, or in person.
Joey’s Academy Film Archive Experience
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(00:14:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Joey interned as a home movie archivist at the Academy Film Archive, where his own home movies were acquired, and he viewed rare footage of directors like Hitchcock and Chaplin.
  • Summary: Joey’s personal home movie footage is preserved in the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles as part of the ‘Joey Lipak collection.’ During his internship, he viewed Alfred Hitchcock’s home movies, including footage of him riding a tricycle. He also worked on the home movie collection of Paramount founder Adolph Zucker, which featured silent stars goofing off on boats.
Grandparents’ Home Movie Discovery
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(00:17:43)
  • Key Takeaway: Seeing his grandparents’ home movies from their 20s provided Joey with a profound sense of presence and a new perspective on them as young people, contrasting with his memory of them as elderly.
  • Summary: Joey studied history and material culture before pursuing film preservation, driven by stumbling upon his grandparents’ 8mm home movies as a child. He found it fascinating to see them young, as people typically only picture their grandparents as old, cane-using figures. One clip showed his grandfather giving beer to a donkey, which Conan joked was in a ‘12-clomp program.’
Joey’s Upcoming Film and Invitations
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(00:22:25)
  • Key Takeaway: Joey is premiering his film, Ghost Camera, in early May, which contrasts his grandparents’ home movies with present-day footage where he plays a fake version of himself in a band.
  • Summary: Joey invited Conan and Sona to the premiere of his movie, Ghost Camera, which uses his home movies to contrast past and present. The film reportedly has received five stars across the board and features Joey playing a character trying to lead the world’s greatest cover band. Conan jokingly offered to be Joey’s reference for his job interview at the Academy.
Podcast Credits and Avenity Ad
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(00:23:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Avenity is a medication for postmenopausal osteoporosis that can rapidly build new bone in 12 months but carries risks including increased chances of heart attack or stroke.
  • Summary: Avenity is for women with postmenopausal osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, offering rapid bone building within 12 months. Serious risks include heart attack, stroke, or death from a heart problem, and patients must report low blood calcium or any history of heart issues. Rare but serious events include rash, swelling, muscle spasms, and unusual thigh bone fractures.