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Oh, okay. Well, that's a very thoughtful gift.

Do you wear a wig or is that your hair?

Absolutely not. It's definitely my hair. And so it's kind of insulting you would buy that gift for me.

Well, I'll just return it anyway, but I do wish I got cash back.

Yeah.

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conan o'brien needs a fan want to talk to conan visit teamcoco.com slash call conan

okay let's get started hey micah welcome to conan o'brien needs a fan hello thank you hi micah how are you good how are you doing uh where are you right now in the world micah

i am in atlanta georgia at the center for puppetry arts oh you work with puppets

I don't think I've heard of it. I'm going to say I don't think I've heard of it, but tell me, this is a puppet museum? What is it? What are we doing here? Are we storing puppets? Are we displaying them? What's happening in your puppet world?

Yeah, we're a museum, a puppet museum. We're also a performing arts center. So we have performances that involve puppets on stage, but then I work in the museum side of things. So I'm the collections manager, which essentially just means I take care of the puppets in the museum.

Okay. Are we talking famous puppets here? Would these be puppets that I know?

Yes. We have about 500 of the Jim Henson, original Jim Henson puppets.

Oh, we call those Muppets, don't we?

Yes, we do call them Muppets.

Well, I'm sorry. We in the business puppetry call that Muppetry. So you have Muppets. You have 500 Muppets?

Yes, we do. We have 500 Muppets. Miss Piggy, Kermit, Sesame Street characters, puppets from The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

Wow.

Among others. So yeah, stuff you would recognize.

I had the honor and privilege of getting to meet Jim Henson a couple of times. This is long before I did my late night show or anything. I, when I was in college, uh, his daughter, Lisa was on the college humor magazine with me and he would come by and he once said to me, uh, Conan, would you, would you for the college humor magazine, would you guys like to have one of the thrones from dark crystal to keep in your building just for fun? Cause we have it in our storage facility. And I said, Oh God, yes, Mr. Hanson. and i rented a van and drove down to new york and um picked up with some friends of mine this really cool i think it was fiberglass dark crystal throne and brought it back to the lampoon building in cambridge and i believe it's still there um really so that was it's still there i think it's

still there might have to make a road trip to go get it yeah yeah you guys should come take it

because I don't trust those idiots who are looking after it. You know, probably, it's probably just holding a beer keg.

But a lot of the dark crystal stuff and the labyrinth stuff is really difficult to take care of just due to the materials. So some of it's not around anymore.

It's incredible. So you have a lot of Jim Henson stuff. That's amazing. Any other famous puppets that I would know?

Yeah, we have Lamb Chop. We just got a Lamb Chop and Friends puppet, which, Sona, maybe you remember from our childhood days. I sure do.

Were you a Lamb Chop? I was. What was her name? Her name was?

Oh, God. What was the Lamb Chop? Sherry Lewis. Sherry Lewis. Sherry Lewis. Very famous. Yeah.

And Lamb Chop was her puppet. Yeah.

I remember Lamb Chop.

Uh-huh. And we have the Mystery Science Theater 3000.

thousand puppets oh wow which you can see behind me that's oh look at that

you just moved your head a little bit and chucky is there oh my god oh my god look at chucky

you just buried the lead you have chucky is that the chucky it is the chucky a the chucky um there are multiples this one is from the newer tv show on that was i think on sci-fi So it's a newer one. But yes, it is the Chucky. All of our puppets are originals, usually performed before they're gifted to us. So, yeah.

So what about an average Joe puppeteer? Can they donate their puppet to your museum?

Yeah, we have a process, but we do take acquisitions. We do acquire things. And so, yeah, we have, you know, in that 5,000 puppets, we have puppets from all over the world. you know different puppetry traditions from all over the world puppets that date back you know 1800s and um so yeah people can can call me write me and and offer me this must happen sometimes

someone comes to you and says i'd like to donate my puppet and the puppet is oh come on it's it's like a paper plate and they cut a mouth in it and they you know it's just not good are you in the position of saying, I think we're OK, but thank you so much. Do you have to turn down puppets

sometimes? Yeah, I do. I feel kind of bad doing it, but you're right. I mean, not everything is museum worthy as much as people want their stuff to last forever. OK, Micah, let me ask you this.

Micah, would you ever just to spare their feelings say, thank you, this is such a wonderful piece.

And then when they leave, feed it into a shredder. Oh, boy. Oh, come on. What do you mean? We can't be shredding puppets well yes you can no you can put them in a box but you can't why are you

why are you shredding them because you gotta it's gonna run out of space if you i just i'm thinking

you spare the old puppeteers feel we shredding them that was the go-to okay well all right well

micah i mean i think you're just repeating what sona said so i think you secretly agree with me but you know you want to keep the puppet people on your side um listen yeah i uh we dispose of them

In an appropriate manner, I suppose.

Sure, yes, yes. We call that burning. Come on. Or just bury them. You know what would be a good thing to do if you want to get rid of puppets is dip them in like a beef broth and then throw them into a pack of dogs.

Oh my God, you could never work at a puppet museum.

To see a puppet torn limb from limb seconds after it was donated by a kindly old puppeteer. and then he comes back because he left his wallet and he's like oh no my little gob gob uh micah awful you're awful think about it micah it's something you're going to want to do and now that you've pictured it you're going to do it uh micah let's say it's you're working there late which i'm sure has happened sometimes and it's getting dark and you're walking around there must there must be times when you think where's this going there's a i think i saw that chucky puppet move i saw but i mean it's i mean it's every third twilight zone these puppets come to life and they menace you have you ever been a little paranoid being around these puppets at night and

be honest be honest yeah okay well there was one time where i did run and get a co-worker i'm pretty sure i heard a noise of course you did in here i'm usually in here by myself and the lights turn off automatically um after a while if you don't move around yeah so uh yeah which puppet which

puppet do you think was moving which be honest which puppet do you think was moving none of your none of your lies none of your lies none of your chicanery or tomfoolery which puppet are you quite

certain was moving i i think it was one of the skeksis from the dark crystal oh god yeah the skeksis because they're in a back room by themselves yeah and the light is always off back there and i was walking back there but the light doesn't turn on until i'm in the room yeah it catches my movement and as i was walking back there but before i was in the room i definitely heard it was it like here she comes here she comes oh god she's got beef broth oh look out i did feel a little silly when my co-worker came in and obviously there's nothing going on well

the thing is these puppets aren't dumb they know that when you bring someone else they got to clam up so that's what they do they freeze and they clam up and then your friend leaves and they're

like yeah we're gonna get you we're gonna get you yeah that's why i have chucky right here behind me So that, you know, I figure if he's out in the open, I don't. have to worry. I always know where he is.

Yeah, why do you have your back to him the whole time, though? That's the thing you're doing, Micah, that I would never do. You have him located... Chucky's right behind you, and I think he's holding a weapon. Is he holding a

weapon? Yes, he is holding a knife, yes. What the... Micah?

But Miss Piggy's right next to him. Miss Piggy would fuck Chucky up. She would. How do you know Miss Piggy

doesn't also want to be freed from her human overlord? I mean, Miss Piggy might help.

There's no chance.

What are you talking about? Miss Piggy doesn't want to...

Miss Piggy would never do that. Miss Piggy would defend herself and everybody there because she's Miss Piggy.

She is a puppet too.

No, but that doesn't matter. She knows who's right and who's wrong.

But I don't think she would want to share the spotlight with Chucky.

Yes, okay, Micah, that's the first sensible thing I've heard today. She's a diva And she wouldn't want, you know, Chucky to get all the press for being the murderer So if anything, it's going to be Miss Piggy who gets you And Chucky who's just, you know, watching in horror

I don't like this blasphemy at all Not when it comes to Miss Piggy Do you ever brush Miss Piggy's hair?

No, I do occasionally have to fix the wigs that the puppets have But I do like weird things It's like I have to fluff Big Bird occasionally.

When you say fluff Big Bird, what are we talking about here?

She gets flat, you know, I mean. Yeah, oh, I know.

Oh, I know.

Gets a little limp, you know?

Yeah, so.

Yeah, I have to fluff him a little.

Come on, we got a big shoot going on here, Big Bird. I'm going to fluff you up.

Time is money, Big Bird.

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Oh.

And I didn't get cash back and I regret it now.

Oh, okay.

Yeah.

Well, that's a very thoughtful gift.

Do you wear a wig or is that your hair?

Absolutely not. It's definitely my hair. Okay. And so it's kind of insulting you would buy that gift for me.

Well, I'll just return it anyway, but I do wish I got cash back.

Yeah.

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Oh, okay. This time, because it's a stop-by, I thought, hey, it's the perfect time to bring a pack of Miller Lite.

Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah. I mean, you guys like to be legendary, but you also want to watch your bodies.

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No. I had to think of something. That's not cool.

Well, at least I got us off of fluffing Big Bird and took us to the mass murder.

It's not great to see the puppets not like they're supposed to look. We definitely got the puppets in somewhat poor condition. They had been used, obviously, for years and then in a warehouse. So we did have to do a lot of work. So part of my job is to make sure that they still look like the characters they're supposed to look like. So we don't, you know, destroy children.

So some of these puppets you get have been, you know, rode hard and put away wet. They're like, these are fucked up puppets. Rode hard? God. No, I'm saying they're like all worn out. They're all screwed up. You know what I mean? They've got holes in them.

Rode out.

What?

Holes. Holes in them? Yeah, moth holes. Stuff like that. You know, dismembered sometimes. Yes, yes. You know.

And so, I mean, it must be ghastly sometimes the puppets you get. You know?

Yeah. Yeah, well, you know, they're just puppets, but yeah, you kind of want Elmo to look like Elmo.

You don't want him to be like, no, it's like when I mean, God forbid. But sometimes, you know, you have to go to a wake and the person, you know, was in a bomb accident and you just hope that the they are they look like themselves. You know what I mean? So sometimes you are like the mortician for these puppets. You have to make them look presentable so their loved ones see them in the correct state and not like Snuffleupagus, all bashed, beaten and stabbed. Really did some damage there.

Portition, plastic surgeon, yeah. We do actually take needles to some of the foam latex puppets. Foam latex is a lot of the Dark Crystal Labyrinth puppets, and it sort of dries out over time. Oh, trust me, I know. So much like breast skin as we age.

So the foam kind of dries up and they wither. These puppets wither, and then you guys have to pump them up. Oh, my God.

Sort of like puppet Botox.

Yeah, puppet Botox. Well, and I just want to touch on this briefly, because I know we don't have tons of time, but you're also very much into fan fiction. You love Harry Potter fan fiction, is that right? So sometimes when you're with the puppets late at night, and you're trying to calm down because you're nervous, because you're pretty sure you just saw Chucky sharpening his knife. Um, when, when you're in that situation, sometimes you read, uh, Harry Potter fan fiction and you're a fan of, what is it? Dryonimini? Dry, what did I say wrong? Is it Dryemini? Dramini? Dramini. Oh, sorry for mispronouncing that. Oh yeah, you're right. Dramini.

That word we all just spit out. Yeah, I'm sorry. If I'm ever pulled over for a DUI and they asked me to say Drenomini, I'm just going to say, hey, just take me, put me away for 30 years. Let's not even do the test. How do you pronounce it?

Yeah, I do listen to a lot of audio, podcasts, audio books, and I got into, yeah, Drenomini fan fiction because I'm here all day.

Obviously, Hermione and who, what's the first part? Draco. Oh, Draco Malfoy. And why are, why are you or anyone else, why do you want to, what is it about those two characters that is particularly appealing? Like, how come Harry Potter's not in this combo platter?

Well, I think because, you know, who doesn't love a bad boy? And Draco's story didn't really get finished in the original. So, you know, it's fun to see people's imaginations of where does that go after, you know, the end of the book. Where do those characters go as they become adults?

Do you think that Draco and Hermione could have a love interest? Is that what some of this fan fiction is exploring?

Is that a couple that could really exist?

I mean, who did Hermione ended up with? What was his name? Hubblebee? Gubble? Ron. What's that? Ron. Oh, Ron. Okay. So, Hubblebee? I don't know.

It's been a while. I know. I'm just saying, I don't know. But I get what she said, because I love fan fiction, too. And there's so much stuff that comes out of it. And it's just fun to, like, you know, imagine two characters together. And it's sexy. So it's Drake.

And so, oh, is there fan fiction where Draco and Hermione get it on? Is that something that could happen? Guessing.

I mean, if they're not, what's the point? The first one that I read was Manacled, which is sort of a Handmaid's Tale meets Harry Potter fan fiction. So if you've read Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale or watched the TV show, it's sort of that situation.

Okay, okay, I'm trying to picture this. You know what's crazy?

Behind you, behind you, Chucky just made the coo-coo in his hands.

Get a load of this. Oh my God, here she goes again. Hey, does Dumbledore, does Dumbledore, isn't he the wizard or something? Doesn't he, does he ever- They're all wizards. Oh yeah, right. But he's like the head wizard that really dresses like a wizard. The rest of them dress like they go to Oxford College. They're like, oh, look at me. Oh, I'm a wizard. Oh really? Yeah, because I'm dressed like I go to Princeton. So, do, Um, he's like the guy that's committing to, I'm a wizard, you know, uh, of course I'm

right.

I've not said one thing today that's wrong.

Yeah, you're not wrong.

So does Dumbledore ever walk in on Hermione and, uh, and, and Draco and be like, what the hell's going on here? Does that ever happen in these scenarios?

So far, I've not read one where Dumbledore is in it at all. You could write a new one

This could be a new one He's not the sexiest character Dumbledore?

It depends Some people are into that I don't know

Okay Clearly you are Yeah

Oh yeah I like him old and bearded And wearing a muumuu

So People prefer to see Hermione End up with like You know A potentially attractive character Like Draco Is there a I mean this is

Is there a consensus that Ron is just sort of a dud? Like, people are actively going out of the way to rewrite Harry Potter so that it's not Hermione and Ron, Ron, it's Hermione and Draco. Like, that's much more exciting. Don't you think?

Yeah, I think so.

I mean, no offense to Ron, but he's a wet noodle, you know?

Yeah. Yeah, exactly, exactly.

He's no fun. Draco's a bad boy. Yeah, yeah, you can keep saying that. I'm just saying you, you want there to be like, like love. It can't, they, they gotta, they gotta do it.

And it has to be enemies to lovers is the thing.

What'd you say?

You want the redemption arc. You want the enemies to lovers.

Yes. That's the redemption arc. And you don't get the redemption arc with Ron.

Are you upset? Cause he's like the redhead and you kind of see.

I don't like the way redheads are portrayed in those tales.

In those tails. Oh, it's a bunch of brothers with red hair. What do they do? I don't know.

One of them gets killed and two of them kind of are go nowhere. You know? You know, they're bumbling, stumbling. They come from this goofy house. Yes, that's why I'm mad at these books. Redheads are completely ineffectual lovers. You know? Talk about needing a flutter.

offer. I think you know more about Harry Potter than you're letting on. Have you been reading

some Harry Potter fan fiction? I read those books and I burned them because of the red haired depiction. It's the Weasleys. Hey, what name should we give the redheads? Oh, I have it. The Weasleys. It's a shit show. All right. Micah, I'm really happy that you're that you've got your world involves both puppets and a reality where Hermione makes the correct choice, which is the blonde haired evil guy over the red do-gooder. Micah, I salute you. And I think of myself as a human puppet. And I really am. I mean, most people look at my work and they think you're just a giant. I'm kind of like a snuffleupagus, a big goofy puppet,

wouldn't you say i would say more i mean you're famous for the string dance so i'm thinking

marionette you know marionette yes yeah yes yeah well i uh coming from you that's a big compliment yeah and you have triumph who was a puppet puppet yeah there's a lot of puppets on the old show

tomorrow the ostrich yeah yeah um well if they need a home the center for puppetry arts is here

we'll take them yeah well can you imagine triumph in your museum that would be a disaster all night long you suck you suck chucky you suck hey there's another redhead chucky there's another redhead rounding out the stereotypes our one murder puppet's the redhead well micah it's a delight to talk to you it really is uh you seem like a really nice person and i love what you're doing and i hope to meet you in person someday that'd be fun yeah you should come by the museum we'd

I want to come by at night.

I'll get them.

Yes.

Yeah. Bring a little beef broth with me and some Rottweilers. Okay. All right, Mike, I just threatened your puppets. I better get out of here.

Yeah, I think we should end on that note.

Thank you. Bye, Mike. Thank you. That was really good.

Bye. Thanks, y'all. Nice to meet you. Conan O'Brien needs a fan. With Conan O'Brien, Sonam of Sessian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino Take it away, Jimmy Supervising producer Aaron Blair Associate talent producer Jennifer Samples Associate producers Sean Doherty and Lisa Byrne Engineering by Eduardo Perez Get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at SiriusXM.com slash Conan Please rate, review, and subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Fan wherever fine podcasts are down.

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