Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

Putting The Fun Back In Funeral with Special Guest Paul Scheer

November 20, 2025

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  • Josh, the guest on *Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend*, runs a direct-to-consumer casket and urn company that offers products at roughly half the price of traditional funeral homes by leveraging the FTC's Funeral Rule. 
  • Conan O'Brien revealed his elaborate, custom-made casket idea from Ghana, which is shaped like himself and includes a built-in TV loop of his past shows. 
  • The conversation explored the societal tendency to avoid discussing death, leading to high-cost, distressed purchases, and humorously speculated about creating a procedural show about a funeral director who solves murders. 

Segments

Sonic Coca-Cola Promotion
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(00:00:02)
  • Key Takeaway: Sonic is offering a free Coca-Cola with any purchase via their app, highlighting customizable flavor add-ins like strawberry, cherry, coconut, and even jalapeno.
  • Summary: Listeners can get a free Coca-Cola from Sonic with any purchase using the Sonic app for a limited time. Sonic offers various flavors and add-ins to customize the drink. Coconut is specifically recommended as a delicious addition.
LinkedIn Ads Value Proposition
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(00:00:59)
  • Key Takeaway: LinkedIn Ads boasts the biggest B2B ROAS among online ad networks, leveraging a network of over 1 billion professionals.
  • Summary: LinkedIn Ads targets professionals, including 130 million decision-makers, making B2B marketing highly effective. New advertisers can receive a free $250 credit for their next campaign after spending $250 on their first one. The offer requires visiting linkedin.com/slashConan.
Fan Introduction and Business Context
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(00:01:40)
  • Key Takeaway: Fan Josh from Bellevue, WA, runs a direct-to-consumer casket and urn company, which he is promoting at a national funeral convention in Chicago.
  • Summary: Josh, married for 17 years with three kids, is attending a funeral convention. His business provides an alternative to traditional funeral homes by selling caskets and urns online. This direct-to-consumer model aims to save families money during a difficult time.
Direct-to-Consumer Funeral Savings
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(00:03:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Josh’s company sells caskets and urns at about half the price of funeral homes because families often overspend due to distress and lack of shopping around, despite the FTC’s Funeral Rule allowing outside purchases.
  • Summary: The FTC’s Funeral Rule grants families the right to purchase caskets and urns outside of the funeral home. Josh’s company sells these items through their site, Costco, Sam’s Club, and Amazon at significantly lower prices. The high markups at traditional homes result from the distressed nature of the purchase.
Casket Sizing and Aesthetics
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(00:05:01)
  • Key Takeaway: Concerns about casket fit and delivery timing for immediate needs are addressed, confirming standard sizes are available, including wider options.
  • Summary: Conan questioned the logistics of ordering caskets online, specifically regarding fit if the deceased is larger than expected. Josh assured that standard sizes fit most people, and wider options are available. The discussion noted that casket aesthetics are largely irrelevant since they are quickly buried.
George Washington’s Burial Fear
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(00:07:53)
  • Key Takeaway: George Washington feared being buried alive and requested that people check on him for a couple of days, though the specific detail about poking him with sticks is unverified humor.
  • Summary: The conversation referenced the historical fear of premature burial in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. George Washington was concerned about this possibility. While he requested observation, the detail about poking him with sticks was an embellishment added by the host.
Conan’s Post-Mortem Career Ideas
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(00:09:02)
  • Key Takeaway: Conan humorously proposed being used as a body on a crime procedural show or as a scarecrow as alternative post-death arrangements.
  • Summary: Conan suggested being left in a field as a scarecrow or being utilized as a body in a crime procedural to continue ‘working’ after death. Paul Scheer mentioned seeing examples of ’tableaux’ used for wakes, depicting the deceased in their favorite activities.
Funeral Industry Culture and ‘Funners’
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(00:11:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Josh suggested that while the funeral industry has many fantastic people, it is not generally known for being the most lively crew, contrasting with Conan’s hope that being around death inspires people to live more vibrantly.
  • Summary: Josh indicated that funeral directors do not necessarily party excessively, though being around death makes one appreciate life more. Josh proposed rebranding funerals as ‘funners’ to inject levity into the event.
Airbnb and eBay Sponsorship Reads
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(00:13:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Airbnb promotes listing unused homes to earn money while traveling, and eBay emphasizes finding lost or vintage items, each with a story.
  • Summary: Airbnb encourages listeners to list their homes to earn income, highlighting the comfort of having one’s own space while traveling. eBay is positioned as the place to find rare collectibles and fashion items that reconnect owners with meaningful possessions.
Miller Lite and BetterHelp Ads
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(00:15:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Miller Lite is promoted as a reliable, 96-calorie beer for celebrating moments, while BetterHelp encourages reaching out for therapy, especially during the holidays, offering a 10% discount.
  • Summary: Miller Light is brewed with simple ingredients and is positioned as the beer for ‘Miller time,’ containing 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces. BetterHelp connects users with over 30,000 qualified therapists worldwide, simplifying the matching process for listeners.
Mort the Coffin Plushie
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(00:18:02)
  • Key Takeaway: Josh gifted the hosts a plush toy named Mort, a coffin mascot who was formerly a funeral director and encourages families to plan ahead.
  • Summary: Mort is a cuddly coffin plushie who supposedly encourages pre-planning for funerals. Mort was the mascot for the Worcester Red Sox, the farm team. Conan found the concept of a dead funeral director encouraging people to plan their death amusing.
Urn Placement and Grave Visiting
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(00:20:50)
  • Key Takeaway: People often bury urns to have a physical destination to visit, even though Josh notes that grave visitation tends to decrease significantly after the first couple of years.
  • Summary: Urns are sold based on aesthetics, color, and style, depending on whether the remains will be kept at home or scattered. Burying an urn allows families to have a dedicated spot for remembrance. However, the emotional draw to visit gravesites often fades over time.
Funeral Director as Murder Investigator
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(00:24:46)
  • Key Takeaway: The hosts conceived of a procedural show where a funeral director, noticing suspicious circumstances on bodies that are officially ruled natural causes, subtly investigates the murders.
  • Summary: The idea stemmed from Josh admitting he suspects foul play when people ask about bulk caskets before a death. The proposed show would feature a funeral director with a ‘Colombo’ style of questioning who knows it is murder even if the police have already solved it.
Conan’s Final Casket Design
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(00:26:37)
  • Key Takeaway: Conan’s ideal casket, built in Ghana, is shaped like himself and contains a TV playing a continuous loop of his 90s and 2000s shows.
  • Summary: Josh asked Conan to design his perfect casket, referencing the Ghanaian tradition of custom, symbolic coffins. Conan wants to watch his old shows eternally inside a casket shaped like his own body. Conan jokingly declared he was ‘selling’ the idea and would be buried in a running Bugatti.
Generational Impact of Humor
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(00:28:50)
  • Key Takeaway: Josh shared that Conan’s humor has had a generational impact, as his father laughed at Conan’s work, and now Josh’s children laugh watching Conan’s shows.
  • Summary: Josh expressed deep gratitude, noting that Conan’s comedy is the source of his most thrilling childhood memories involving his father’s laughter. Conan related this to his own memory of watching his father laugh at Johnny Carson’s Karnak segments. Conan vowed to continue creating content for Josh and his children.