Conan Remembers Some Of His Favorite Jim Downey “SNL” Sketches | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

[@emperorchopchop7726]

'That boulder is too large, I could lift a smaller one' was one of out catchphrases in highschool. Classic SNL moment.

[@jenniferschmidt8280]

one of my favorite sketches too

[@gmaher17]

Same! And "Call off the hydra!"

[@johnobrien2643]

As was "The legs, Hercules... LIFT WITH THE LEGS!"

[@charlierichman2669]

1000%

[@BClarke]

Yep, with the pointing too. Must have the pointing to the other boulders. And mimicking jumping rope to suggest getting back into shape.

[@lavidapeligrosa]

One of my favorite CONAF episodes of all time. What a legend, bring him back!

[@tvviewer4500]

Jim should be a recurring character

[@SB-xt5jk]

More SNL deep dives would be awesome.

[@justinforman13]

I loved the Hercules bit! I’ve re-listened to this Jim Downey episode MULTIPLE times since Monday already. What an excellent episode

[@RafaCarrillo]

I never realized the podcast was almost an acronym for CONAN until now... I guess it could've been if he was looking for a black friend only, but it would've gotten rightfully canceled immediately 💀

[@Katya_Lastochka]

​@BocoCorwinI cant tell internet humor anymore. Is this for real?

[@rossy3486]

"When you hit a home run you get to run around all of the bases. All of them. You get to run. You don't have to stop at all". I think that is one of the funniest things i have ever heard. So funny and so well-delivered. Wow! I can't wait for him to come back.

[@TheFaceStabber]

All I can hear is Kamala Harris saying those words...

[@davidalexander3320]

Actually sounds like something Trump would say. Like when he told us Puerto Rico was surrounded by water. Big water. Ocean water. Or how he just discovered US spells us. Or how he thought we had airports in the revolutionary War. Or how he thought he beat Obama in 2016. Or how he thought Jeb got ua involved in Iraq war. Or how he seemingly didnt know we already had a ww2 and thought biden was gonna get us into ww2. On and on.

[@ColinFox]

@@davidalexander3320 That's a very good point. Trump is a "Jim-downey-esque" other people's time waster.

[@victorh4984]

My favourite line from Citiwide Change Bank commercial, "I have had people come in with wrinkled ten-dollar bills to exchange for new crisp bills to put in birthday cards. We can handle special requests like that, usually in the same day."

[@charlie-obrien]

Getting ten bucks in your Birthday card in the eighties was righteous!

[@TarraresThyroid]

​@@charlie-obrienwere they able to handle that request on the same day?

[@WillyGrippo]

They can also give you five twos.

[@anthonypayne2526]

It was amazing listening to this, and the INSTANT the words "change bank" are spoken, I could remember that entire commercial ... AND... the second commercial later in the show. Absolute mastery.

[@McDuffin]

And how Phil Hartman had foreign money and change bank couldn’t convert it for him, but they were able to make change in that currency.

[@vanmoody]

Some ask how we make money doing what we do.......Volume!

[@billmartinson4205]

Brilliant sketch. "The answer is simple: Volume." That master punchline, held in suspension for Part 2, still cracks me up to this day.

[@Chimponaut]

The baseball sketch had me dying, his delivery is really good for someone mainly known for writing.

[@cmmmmmmmw]

His delivery is always great. "I award you no points and may god have mercy on your soul."

[@here151]

I’m pretty sure that’s because writers have a specific delivery in mind when writing the sketch

[@joshs8685]

Conan - What a gift to give back to a mentor of yours by letting him be himself and reflect ... what a special life you've had to reach so many people.

[@johnanimation5132]

I've never heard of this Jim Downey guy but I can see why they praise him so much. He's undoubtedly funny!

[@danielm4114]

Thanks for releasing so many clips of this podcast with Downey, best episode so far

[@Demion83]

I feel like Jim is really underselling his camera presence, the few times he stepped in front of the camera have all been insanely memorable moments in comedic history.

[@andythefork]

HERE'S YOUR TWO DOLLARS.

[@FanboyFilms]

Let's not forget his most quoted line from Billy Madison, "I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

[@cathyreitzel1765]

That's where I know his voice! 😂😂

[@rjs617]

OMG, that was Downey? I quote that all the time. It’s brilliant.

[@cassandragee6589]

Not nearly as epic or memorable, but I also loved his monologue in the film Dirty Work

[@Gekko9747]

What monologue was his in dirty work​@@cassandragee6589

[@ctrainbeats]

@@cassandragee6589 DW is so good

[@TigerGreene]

He's unrecognizeable! People may remember him as the host of the quiz show on Billy Madison who berates Billy and ends "may god have mercy on your soul". He doesn't even look like the same person.

[@kevinw712]

OH MY GOD THANK YOU!! the whole time I'm watching these clips, I absolutely still had in mind the image (of what I now know is) the younger him, but genuinely thought they were two different people. like I was honestly confused, because I thought I'd known what all the main SNL writers had looked like. I just went and watched the "change bank" sketch, and was STUNNED that's him. I would never guessed that was the same person from Billy Madison in a million years. Usually voices do it for me, but his has gotten soooooo gravelly

[@TigerGreene]

@@kevinw712 Yeah he looks prehistoric now.

[@kevinw712]

@@TigerGreene plus I'm realizing now he actually looks a little bit like Letterman w/o the beard

[@MS-hg7ip]

I discovered SNL in the 86-87 season when i was 13. I recorded every episode on vhs. i can’t tell you how many times my friends and i threatened to “begin running, lifting weights and eating better and would soon put an end to your despotic rule” or told someone that the requested task was “too large” but that i could “lift a smaller one” or said “the answer is simple. volume.” literally just last week i told my kids: “the legs, Hercules! lift with the legs!” thanks to Jim for all his contributions and the endless laughter.

[@smelledgeface1867]

Conans long form interviews are great I look forward to these now

[@MISNM0]

❣❣❣❣ With great shame and sadness, it took until podcasting for me to really get into the Conanverse. (Somebody make a shoe thing of that) There is really everything to love about the folks in this nook of entertainment. They were an important source of joy in the dark days of the 2020's. Grateful they all joined into the format and take

[@bloodsling]

I'm so glad they touched on the "City Wide" bank sketch,easily one of my favorites from that time. "We are not going to give you change you don't want. If you come to us with $100 bill,we're not going to give you 2000 nickels".

[@brianjl7477]

"Unless that suits your change needs."

[@untexan]

Immediately followed by the chyron on the screen that said, “We’re not going to give you two thousand nickels.”

[@stevereber3358]

Unless you ask for that

[@suedenim]

We can handle special requests like that. Because that's our business. We make change.

[@cripplymacdeafy]

*That’s* what we do.

[@Dr.SickofYou]

The change bank was so brilliant. I saw it when it aired (I was 10) And it changed the way I think about delivery forever. Jim Downey is a genius

[@ragnarokangaroo]

Having seen several of those Hercules films via Mystery Science Theater, the dubbing bit was spot-on hilarious

[@Tommyr]

The Godzilla movies were badly lip synced as swell!

[@Me-lj1rk]

What a legend who I never heard of...WOW! What a talent...MORE of this man!

[@shepardwallace5300]

I love how you can see the wave of nostalgia wash over Conan, just blissing out. At @2:10 he looks like a kid listening to his favorite bedtime story.

[@nem0763]

He's so good, I went to watch the original sketch (which I've never seen) and I found this pure narration by Downey even funnier

[@CharlesCornettFL]

I enjoy the podcast on most every episode, but this was the best yet. It is an amazing look backstage. I find myself wondering why I didn't find others (Franken, Schimmel) nearly as interesting. Downey is an amazing talent, and generally unsung outside of recognition like this. Conan's reverence in this instance was different. He clearly is in awe of Downey, and that speaks volumes.

[@erolegario]

Bingo

[@wyskass861]

One of my favorite Downey spoken sketches was the Grayson Moorehead brokers ad. Where they state their working principles of taking customers money and making sure they don't lose the list where they keep names and amounts.

[@stevereber3358]

And if I am shagging my secretary, you will say I am "in a meeting", this is almost as important as "the list"

[@xxxxST3xxxx]

Yes! I was hoping he would touch on that sketch as well.

[@joshuasears4566]

And if we have time, we'll make a copy of the list, in case we lose the first list.

[@michaelb.9768]

Once a year we will write each broker’s name on a slip of paper, and place the slips in a hat. Each broker will then draw a slip of paper from the hat. He will buy a gift for the broker whose name he has drawn. He will then be that broker’s *Secret Santa*

[@LIamaLlama554]

Yes, I remember this sketch. Gold.

[@dimsinsf1]

I didn't know Jim Downey was the prinicpal in Billy Madison! Best monologue ever. Wish they could of talked other scenes he was in.

[@keithgoogle]

only 1 Jim Downey, he knows how to make change for any amount

[@alex0589]

His anecdote of Daniel Day Lewis talking to him "in character" the whole way to set, talking about his weekend made me laugh so hard in public, i looked as insane as usual listening to this podcast outside... I dont think that part made it to youtube yet

[@gilpinsteven]

It's so cool that he mentions Daniel Day-Lewis, and it reminds me that Jim Downey played the small but wonderful role of Al in There Will Be Blood!

[@jefffunke252]

These were some of my absolute favorite sketches.

[@rob-v1y]

I remember that skit and that particular voice over. Because he is not only imitating the voice and cadence of the guy who did the awful Hercules movies, but the same guy who over dubbed the spaghetti westerns and karate movies of the time as well. The line where Murray talks about the rock being too large....I may have broken a rib laughing when it I saw it.

[@davidfrost7226]

Lee Van Cleef did not overdub those spaghetti westerns. That was him in them. The Italian actors were dubbed but he along with Eli Wallach and Clint Eastwood spoke their own lines in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I think that Jim Downey was just saying that he used Cleef’s voice as inspiration. But Cleef was not really a voice actor, he was a major screen actor, often playing villians

[@kabongpope]

The Change Bank is a stone cold classic. Same with Hercules. What a legend!

[@cubencis]

That’s sketch had me and my brother and stitches for months

[@dustymedlock]

Jim’s understanding of the nuances of comedy is genius.

[@blueshattrick]

Change Bank is one of my all time favorite skits, total classic

[@cripplymacdeafy]

Jim Downey, I thank you for all these years I’ve entertained myself by incorporating change bank phrases during business or PTA meetings: “that’s what we do” or “how do we do it? (Pause) volume” No one’s ever questioned me. TIL I also incorporate your facial expressions and hand movements because you’re the guy! Thanks for the smiles and hearty laughs!

[@rosemoore437]

I want to hear so much more of Jim Downey! He is so funny!

[@Kenopappi]

"Explain to the folks at the home who Jim Downey is" I now wonder if Norm got the idea for that bit from Jim Downey

[@sgshumblecrumb6046]

Did not know he also voiced Tia Carrere's dad in Wayne's World 2. This guy really was involved in everything.

[@outofabook]

This was a great episode! Thanks, Jim Downey, for all the years of laughter.

[@DanSolo871]

That Hercules sketch was so good, my friend and I used to recite it word for word when we were kids.

[@dadstuff123]

Jim is gifted with a great voice as well!

[@michaelmcdonald8452]

I love how he says "I don't know how much I'll remember" then replicates it perfectly.

[@greencaraction]

That Hercules sketch was comedy gold! Been trying to find it for years! Please find it for us Conan!

[@imagemachinefilm]

Imagine being such a legend that you call Bill Murray "Billy"

[@mrkeogh]

Billy the kid.

[@ሽሮእወዳለሁ]

Did Billy cure cancer and I didn't hear about it?

[@ElCrab]

3:44 same, Sona, same. I just rewatched both Wayne’s Worlds the other night and was wondering where I’d heard that voice before.

[@Marqk-]

Snl needs to get these uploaded

[@lorifngus]

So many good memories of great sketches... Thank you for your talent!

[@nicoleslondon]

The Hercules sketch is one of my favorites!

[@vinray89]

OMG! YES! "Il Returno De Hercules" is one of my all-time favorite SNL sketches! My best friend and I quote it often. HILARIOUS!

[@bradpirochta9293]

I haven't seen that Hercules sketch since it aired, but I remember laughing so hard I was crying. Murray really played up his aching back.

[@dadstuff123]

I remember that sketch while I was in college!! LMAO!! Murray put his back out!

[@PIXPromosMore]

"So...The Mighty Hercules..." "Stop saying the Might Hercules" "THE MIGHTY HERCULES!" Classic

[@LastSifu]

Jim Downey is almost unrecognizable now, with the mustache and being so thin. He’s a hilarious writer and is funny in every film appearance he’s done.

[@FanboyFilms]

His voice has gotten pretty gravelly as well. But when he goes into a bit, you can recognize the delivery.

[@victoriansword]

The Grayson Moorhead commercials remain among my favorite SNL commercials of all time. “For example, where we keep the list.”

[@MrJDOaktown]

I'm crying. I love Downey. Bring him back please.

[@Wufnu]

I keep re-listening to him explain the Joan Kroc skit and it's got me in stitches.

[@juddgoswick2024]

Change Bank is hands-down the best SNL skit to me. "Volume!"

[@jasonmurdoc9533]

4:47 you can see why norm and him clicked so well

[@madnessbydesignVria]

I remember 'Out-of-shape Hercules' and 'Change Bank' so well! Those were great skits. I still remember the line from Change Bank "How do you make money doing this? The answer is simple: volume...". Kills me still... :)

[@CaptainNamikaze]

I just went to watch the Hercules sketch, I'm on the floor, it's perfect! :D

[@Weshopwizard]

Maybe in my all time top 10 bits from SNL. Absolute genius. Volume.

[@ebbderelict]

I had forgotten about that Hercules skit, but hearing him play it out pulled it from the recesses of my memory. :D

[@khackett7]

I should have long known who Jim is, but I somehow haven’t. Glad I do now!! What a genius, and such a great episode.

[@eugenemccarthy7880]

I think it’s genius that he just did the bit while explaining the bit. Change Bank great skit.

[@Tommyr]

I love these Jim clips! He's a freaking RIOT!

[@hamsandwichson]

Change Bank is one of the funniest ideas ever. They executed it perfectly too.

[@BigSirZebras]

explaining something that doesnt need explaining reminds me of the Life of Brian haggling scene that just ends with Brian running away.

[@MrUndersolo]

I loved that sketch so much!

[@ehiggin]

Is he the same guy that was in Billy Madison as the quiz show moderator? Lol I still quote that to this day 😂

[@DanielThureskog]

Yeah. Same. 😂

[@djibridibili]

one of my favourite recent episodes. on a kevin nealon level easily

[@generaljellyroll8737]

*getting cash back at grocery store “How do you want that?” - “2 dollar bills and wheat pennies, please”

[@nilesoien4439]

Got to 5:49 with the bit about home runs and collapsed laughing on my desk.

[@ad3larde]

i have been laughing about Change Bank since the day it aired. Thanks Jim.

[@plyforea]

One of my favourites from "Norm Mcdonald has a show": Do you ever wonder what would have happened if Mumford had remained childless?

[@meledge55]

Change Bank….I’ve quoted so many times.

[@Randsurfer]

The brilliant part was that while Downey was speaking "I could lift a smaller one", Bill Murray was swinging his arm around pointing all over the set in search of a smaller one.

[@danieltenreiro9056]

Jim Downey is an all-time comedy great

[@brandontoygamertv750]

The bank sketch. One of my favorite of all time. I never knew who had written it. 😂😂 Another favorite was a new diet fad called "Move more, Eat Less."

[@kevvymetal666]

I still use that 'boulder is too large joke' whenever possible.

[@VikingFireProject]

He was so perfect for the role in Billy Madison. Such a small role but he added so much.

[@VikingVern7]

5:50 love it! I want to see this sketch so bad!!!

[@hamupinhere]

Not just the "Change Bank" sketches, but Jim Downey was hilarious in the "Grayson Moorehead Securities" sketches as well. I guess he was just good at acting like a banker, lol.

[@clutchkman]

My favorite part of the change bank sketch was the answer to the question of how does the change bank make money? Simple…volume.

[@2yhgf]

Conan always brings 1000% ive not been doing my hair either these days but i still work lol

[@suedenim]

"People ask me, how do you guys make any money from this? Volume." (And about 15 years later, people in silicon Valley were actually making that kind of argument with a straight face.)

[@mynamedaniel3122]

YES! I think about change bank all the time

[@simonscott1121]

Absolute genius.

[@GodheadNee]

was he also the guy behind the lash larue "whipmaster" sketch with bill murray? that has lived rent-free in my mind since I was in pre-k thirty years ago.

[@patrickburns2274]

The Change Bank commercial should be the new national anthem.

[@covidcityrockers2146]

"Lift with the legs Hercules."

[@kenneld]

Wow, I've heard the name Jim Downey many times, probably in relation to SNL, but never really grasped who he was. Realizing that this is THE GUY from stuff like the First Citywide Change Bank skits is wild.

[@retiredatforty]

Can we all take a minute to acknowledge what an absolute smoke show Sona Movsesian is?

[@scrungo7610]

creep

[@HypnoSwag]

3:23 Mind blown. 😮

[@NowSmile4TheCamera]

The funniest line of Change Bank is, "people ask how we make money. Simple...volume." :)

[@audreydakin8130]

I start a new job next Tuesday and I need to remember not to over explain. I’m going to have change bank post it notes all over my office! Lmao

[@Daxtarr1]

"What are you doing?" "I'm buying this newspaper." "That's alright, take it. Just take it, there's nobody around."

[@theBaron0530]

"We're not going to give you 2000 nickels. Unless that reflects your change needs."

[@vincentcouncillor483]

Australia did one in the early nineties called Hercules returns, still a bloody funny film

[@peterandrade3630]

The Hercules sketch is a real standout. So funny. The out of place grunts. The pompadour! Bill Murray did it perfectly. "Please stop saying the mighty Hercules." 😂 One of the all time best. Up there with Alec Baldwin's pie sketch, Eddie's white man sketch, etc.

[@aBeatleFan4ever]

Bill Murray is always the first person I think of... when I think of people who could play Hercules. He has the perfect body for it.

[@missoctober8859]

I forgot about the change bank commerical. Hilarious.

[@allocater2]

We need somebody to link all referenced material in the description! Change Bank 1 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYmnqYF5r7qmpq8 Change Bank 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaDHonyGgsesi8k couldn't find the baseball sketch

[@pronkb000]

I don't *think* the Kroc sketch made air. I haven't seen every episode from 1984-85 (it was October '84 when the Padres eliminated the Cubs) but I don't remember seeing it in any reviews of that season.