A Listener Seeks Justice For Matt Gourley | Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend

Conan and Matt revisit playground rhymes from their childhoods, but Sona can’t exactly relate.
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ABOUT CONAN O’BRIEN NEEDS A FRIEND
Deeper, unboundedly playful, and free from FCC regulations, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend is a weekly opportunity for Conan to hang out with the people he enjoys most and perhaps find some real friendship along the way. Watch highlights of Conan, Sona Movsesian and Matt Gourley chatting with celebrities and meeting fans, along with special segments like “Review the Reviewers” and “Big Dick History.”
ABOUT TEAM COCO
Team Coco is the KZbin home for all things Conan O’Brien and the Team Coco Podcast Network. Team Coco features over 25 years of comedy sketches, celebrity interviews and stand-up comedy sets from CONAN on TBS and Late Night with Conan O’Brien, as well as exclusive videos from podcasts like Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,
Literally! with Rob Lowe, Why Won’t You Date Me? with Nicole Byer, The Three Questions with Andy Richter, May I Elaborate? with JB Smoove and Scam Goddess with Laci Mosley.
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[@culwin]

After Conan lost the Tonight Show, he should have held a press conference, and simply said: Let the babies have their orange juice.

[@rocketRobScott]

Conan is the Orange Juice, and we’re the babies.

[@AKABoondock19]

Someone juice this man

[@Raaaaaaaaaaandy]

"Keep cool, my babies."

[@augusthavince8909]

"It's always beef au jus with you!" lol

[@thelonelyloner7]

Conan telling Eduardo at 5:34 "You're never gonna make it in this country, if that's all you got" for the superman song made me laugh so hard 😂😂😂

[@BedrockLeadership]

!!! Pure gold !!! 😂😂😂😂😂

[@martenrange1940]

I believe Shmoopy is secretly Jerry Seinfeld. He was once called Shmoopy by one of his girlfriends on the show and he also did the inka dink in one episode.

[@lilclerk]

I came here to say Shmoopy and Inka dink are both seinfeld references haha

[@karkajouautomaton4882]

The plot thickens!

[@bretfoltz7737]

Shmoopy was the “Soup Nazi” episode.

[@briancalderon2934]

@martenrange1940 Jerry?

[@eoinmurphy8761]

Inka Dink was used in the Seinfeld episode where the statue was stolen and George and Kramer argue over who gets it.

[@weeniehutjunior]

Whenever people on stage would yell to the audience, the generic "Are you ready?" I always wished someone in the crowd would yell back, "NO I NEED LIKE 10 MORE MINUTES!" LOL

[@brycemcneil4404]

The Critic did a joke similar to that... "Are you ready to ROCK?" "Not yet, Billy's tying his shoe." Billy: "OK."

[@whothefvckiscris]

i always yell nooooo

[@nathonkim725]

Yes, the "kissed a girl behind a magazine" was a rhyme that I used... I always thought it meant you hid your faces with a magazine as you kissed.

[@redhead5222]

I've always heard: Let the babies have their bottle.

[@gersonkphone]

Yeah, Homer uses that version in a season 2 Simpsons. Pre-Conan's run, though.

[@luckyDancer100]

Exactly. It’s always been “let the baby have its bottle” in a passive aggressive manner. I feel like some kid just messed up the expression.

[@thevirtualtraveler]

I enjoyed it when Conan started talking about his childhood and things they would say, for just a second his Boston accent came out when he said, "No that's a foul". You could tell he was strongly remembering the time and place.

[@mcsweeney29]

Also hilarious how little Conan knows about sports when he calls fouls in touch football. Listening to him attempt to talk about sports is always a lark.

[@LPChipi]

"The closest city to Baaaston"

[@Saint.V.]

1:43 ghost in the graveyard is very much a thing! It’s like hide and go seek, except there would be a time limit on how long people could be “hidden“ and then if any were found within that time limit, they would go to the “graveyard“. Once that time limit was up, the seeker would scream “Ollie Ollie oxen, free“ which would release the “ghosts” from the graveyard, and everyone that was hidden, would no longer be allowed to hide and would have to run from the ghost because they became seekers as well. So basically “ghost in the graveyard” is a game of hide and seek that morphs into a game of tag.

[@Sledgeh101]

I think a lot of people my age have heard 'Olly Olly Oxen Free', but I had no idea what it meant. Thank you for the explanation.

[@84bucco]

So much fun with that game as a kid!

[@davidyoder562]

We played it a little different. Not sure if it's regional or just my family/group of friends. We didn't have any time limits, it was just reverse hide and seek. So one person hides, and everybody goes looking for the one. If someone finds the ghost (hider), he/she yells "ghost in the graveyard!" and it turns into a game of tag (ghost is "it"). Whoever gets tagged is the ghost in the next round. Side note, when the ghost is hiding, the seekers all count aloud "one o'clock, two o'clock..." until they get to 24 and everyone yells "midnight!" Then the hunt begins. Ah, such fun times

[@WithLoveThomas]

Genius

[@jules7209]

Our ghost in the graveyard was where everyone takes a slip if paper. And one person has the x. The person w the x has to kill the other players without anyone seeing

[@growupjohnny9374]

Conan was literally about to tell a story about Nas and Matt cut him off to talk about ink-a-dink

[@thatsmyspotpenny651]

i think he was referring to the nas bit he did on tour about him introducing nas and then being obnoxious about it

[@geloamiote]

7:36 old timey coco always gets me

[@ndteegarden]

Me too. Given enough time it always morphs into Edward G. Robinson.

[@ZakClaxton]

If you wanted to REALLY upset people in elementary school, you'd pull out the "Matt and Sona sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

[@KABE1322]

I never used Ink a Dink as a child but learned about it when I was a kid from Seinfeld. Kramer and George used Ink a Dink to decide who would get the statue.

[@yurielcundangan9090]

The more we watch the Podcast, the more we like Matt's persona

[@Aerosolli]

Not really, he's getting so comfortable now that he just starts seem weird.

[@emu_warrior]

@@Aerosolli wrong, shut up Jordan

[@yudha9417]

@@Aerosolli nah

[@Butterratbee]

@@Aerosolliwrong

[@sassyboy29]

You should have said " Let the baby have his orange juice" to Jay Leno

[@AdmiralWinfrey]

We used to add "Not because you're dirty/Not because you're clean/But because you kissed a boy/Behind a magazine" to the end of our rhymes, like all of them

[@aaronarchermonster8539]

ghost in the graveyard for us was a round based game of tag played at night with a homebase. starts with one zombie (ghost) that hides once the zombie reveals itself you can run to homebase to be safe. each round the people tagged by the zombies now also hide until only one person survives. We played this every summer night. i dont know any rymes....

[@winter117a]

This is version of Ghosts that I remember. Such a fun game. Played many a summer night around one of the houses in our neighborhood that had a perfect layout. Front yard was flat with a large stoop by the front door (acted as base). Sides of the house sloped to a low, flat backyard. Lots of trees in random locations but very clear routes to run through. Always had excellent places for the ghosts to hide.

[@mikebowman4692]

Yep.

[@DigitalAndInnovation]

1:27 Sona delivers GOLD and they just write it off. Her timing is getting better and better!

[@Edward_John]

Gourley had the same rhymes as I had as a kid. Apple peaches pumpkin pie and ink a dink a bottle of Ink were our goto rhymes. Of course "Engine engine number nine" was also a favorite.

[@franciet99]

Agreed!

[@2xSundays]

My moms favorite bedtime story to me: One dark night in the middle of the day, two dead boys came out to play, back to back they faced each other, pulled out their knives and they shot each other, the deaf policeman heard the noise, and came and got those two dead boys, and if you don’t believe my story’s true ask the blind man he saw it too. Paradoxical and confused, yet wonderful lady my mother is. 😊

[@THEjoelivingstone]

The version I got was: One bright day in the middle of the night Two dead boys got up to fight Back to back they faced each other Drew their swords and shot each other A deaf policeman heard the noise Came and shot the two dead boys If you don't believe this lie is true Ask the blind man, he saw it too

[@sew75962]

I was waiting for the roast of schmoopy. Conan didn’t disappoint.

[@dvdlsn]

Isn't it 'let the baby have his bottle'?

[@kstepko]

Came here to say this!

[@guycanale5776]

That's what I remember

[@neolexiousneolexian6079]

Conan said it was from his childhood, so it was obviously before bottles were invented, and they just had to give babies orange juice without a vessel to contain it.

[@LindaC616]

​@@neolexiousneolexian6079😅😅 they just tipped the baby back and squeezed the oranges over its open mouth...

[@LindaC616]

Seriously, though, I've been in Rhody for 24 years, never heard of it

[@JessLFH]

Yes! Ink a dink was necessary to choose who was it or which sibling had to do the dishes.

[@ZeroKool7140]

I heard “no cuts, no butts, no coconuts” in a line outside an Apple Store with friends. I left to go find a breakfast burrito and abandoned my friends there after I heard that..

[@JomerTB]

That's so random and your reaction is hilarious

[@oxglen7090]

Seinfeld S2 E6. Ink a dink with the magazine line.

[@jacktion1546]

In northern NJ, we said “Let the babies have their bottles.” When we needed to select teams, we went with the old “one potato two potato three potato four, five potato six potato seven potato more.”

[@kstepko]

I had forgotten all about ‘potato’!

[@ebbderelict]

Bottle. That's the one. That's the one you say. For one-potato, I always laugh when I think about this episode of Cheers, where Carla, Dianne, and Woody were trying to decided on something, and Sam starts with "My dog died last night, what colour was his blood" and Dianne doesn't want to play. So they did this thing with a baseball bat to see who's the last one that can grab it at the top. Then Woody grabs the nub, and Carla says that Dianne and her have a chance to kick it out of his hand, and Dianne asks "who gets to try first?", and that's when Woody starts with one-potato. :D

[@JonEnge]

Oh yes! I grew up in Southern California and we had the Inka Dink extended version which we sometimes cut down because it seemed excessive.

[@silentsmurf]

Is this a generational thing? I’m a few years younger than Sona from Southern California and never heard of it although I’m also a child of immigrants 😂

[@frigginmanbeard3073]

Funny that ink a dink is not a more commonly known thing. I remember the first time I heard it was on an episode of Seinfeld. Even had the magazine part.

[@leightnite3056]

"When you start rhyming beef ajou, it's time to bid you adou" that's what it shoulda been...when ya gonna hire me huh?😅

[@TheOrlandoTrustfull]

If you only know Gourley from this podcast, I highly recommend listening to The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project. Gourley really shines as an improvisor.

[@MM-ud1xf]

He’s great on Bonanas for Bonanza, but his HR Giger is hilarious.

[@amitychief3061]

Add “Let the baby have his orange juice” to “Kedakai as god made her” and “There was talk of gerbals”

[@apolloguitars]

Yep. “Inka dink… behind a magazine” is how we said it. Cheers! 😊

[@omarazeez677]

"Let the babies have their sweets" is a saying children use in Iraq that has the exact same meaning as the one Conan said. Orange juice is sweet; would definitely mistake young white Conan for an Iraqi, especially with the "uptight bringing" and channelling emotions through sarcasm.

[@christopherpugnetti5827]

Wow, ghost in the graveyard was the best. I remember most of these sayings too, and I grew up in eastern PA in the early 90s.

[@papapeaceful8713]

Much love and God bless, thanks for the laughs and beyond

[@Saint.V.]

1:51 VERY REGIONAL! Something that was easier to call out and also the main reason people were allowed to claim ignorance as a feeling of bliss that we are no longer able to today. I love this conversation because it is the major change in society and regional standards/practices of the early 90s. That’s the conversation you guys are having is the breakthrough of the World Wide Web being accessible to the mass public in 1993 and how it broke down those barriers Of people living in one country but having extreme differences regionally. Whereas today I know that this conversation is going on all the way in California while I’m here in Kansas and ironically it’s a conversation about the games we used to play/sayings we used to use as kids, at a time when the World Wide Web was not so accessible to us. It really truly puts an actual, tangible meaning behind the saying “the world is at your fingertips“

[@awoFalase]

Freakin Hilarious! So dumb but great. 🤣😂🤣

[@Kevin2432]

Ive only heard ink a dink from seinfeld, and Im glad schmoopy defended him, but i guess the team didnt connect those.

[@kstepko]

Yes - Jerry Seinfeld and/or Larry David needs to come on the podcast and defend Matt! I’m sure that springs from someone’s childhood experience.

[@whitenoizemaker]

I was at Bonnaroo that year and I never knew wtf it was that he said there I love this lmao

[@lulumish8991]

“Inka binka dinka” ~ Luci from Disenchantment

[@thevirtualtraveler]

Growing up in SE MN in the 80s we had some very regional things. Instead of cutting, we called it 'budging' in line. Instead of duck duck goose, we played duck duck grey duck (which is Much more fun!). And, very specific to the town I grew up, we would say, "I see London, I see France, I see _____'s underpants. Not too big, not too small, just the size of Apache Mall!"

[@ndteegarden]

We said "budging" in western New York too. But I'm pretty sure Duck, Duck, Grey Duck is unique to Minnesota. It might even come from Swedish if I recall correctly.

[@jlee4039]

This topic was covered by The Atlantic a few years ago, on regional differences between children’s games and rhymes. Some really fascinating studies!

[@samfilmkid]

For the record, Ghosts in the Graveyard is basically just hide and seek but in the dark. It can only be played at night, you can either turn off all the lights in your house or look all over the neighborhood but you have to play it in the dark, no flashlights or anything. My dad told me he grew up playing it all the time and he even made me and my cousin play it once at my grandparents house on the cape when we were nine. That was the one and only time I ever played it.

[@cgxoxo1]

My parents banned us from playing that game lol (I was in New England too)

[@Holasrmateo]

I recommended to my language instructor who was working towards his citizenship, along with his wife and children, that they should watch the Simpsons Seasons 1 or 2-10 to learn English from Harvard grads as well as Americana from the middle 20th century. Learn perfectly cromulet words from jub jub to perspicacity.

[@watermeloninja]

OMG, I remember the "Nas" bit from "Conan O'Brien can't stop" documentary 🤣

[@jamiedick7091]

We did that full ink a dink on Long Island back in the 70’s!

[@deano.7533]

On the west coast we would say... "Let the babies have their bottle." It has a better ring to it if you ask me. Take care. sincerely, Dean O. :-I

[@masterxyr]

the Moses of Comedy parting the crowd

[@user-tt5xj5ib1e]

Shmoopy is a national treasure :D 🤔😆🤣

[@bacardidave3148]

I think I'll have a french dip for lunch. Thanks again, Conan!

[@kumakhan7452]

Shmoopy backing up Gourley with a mountain of Seinfeld references. "You owe me for the Ink-a-dink"

[@SJ-iq1pp]

We absolutely had the “behind a magazine” part of Ink a Dink.

[@samflynn3670]

Farts were called "windballs" in my hometown. I didn't learn that wasn't a thing until I got to college. Freshman year was rough. 😞

[@ricbaker351]

Ink a dink was featured in a Seinfeld episode

[@DaveSwart]

7:49 THAT is the better line lol

[@Nancy-en7ns]

Grew up in the Bronx. We said the whole ink a dink phrase. Thanks for the memories!! One potato, two potatoe...

[@84bucco]

Ghost in the graveyard is easily the best kids game around hands down! I'd play it right now!

[@ejyounggun08]

I also enjoyed Red Rover and kickball.

[@BaldBunny]

I'm 42 and live in Pasadena CA....I very much remember "inka dink..."

[@jrpipik]

I think Homer says "Let the baby have his bottle" in an episode of The Simpsons when Conan wrote for the series!

[@alexandercampbell7903]

🎵Ipsy bipsy bobbilyboo. I played the stage of Bonaroo where I asked them "How do you do? and let's get some beef a jeu, and the crickets played me off boo hoo; they would rather watch Pink, Nas, and the FIghters Foo. Ipsy bipsy bobbily boo"🎶

[@allenqueen]

_Superman Superman_ _Fly away_ Such poetry

[@meganmucha6127]

I love Ghost in the Graveyard!!!

[@julieharden2433]

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and we said the Inka Dink thing all the time.

[@nickolascochran]

"The phrase is thought to have originated in the early 1900s, when orange juice was first introduced to the American market. At the time, orange juice was considered to be a luxury item, and it was often given to babies as a way to boost their immune system. As orange juice became more affordable and widely available, the phrase "let the babies have their orange juice" came to be used in a more figurative sense." "The phrase is a colloquial expression that is used to suggest that someone is being overly protective or cautious. It is often used in a humorous way, but it can also be used to express genuine frustration or concern." 😆

[@tristanbowman7098]

Grew up south of Boston, it's "Ink stink purple pink, poop, fart, out!"

[@roriofficial689]

Enie mini Miny Moe always gives me the shivers, knowing the actual origin/real words to that song

[@christianfinkbeiner684]

I haven't heard the orange juice thing, but I would know right away that it's an insult. They're calling someone a baby. It's not complicated.

[@RooftopsofAmerica]

Ghost in the Graveyard where I grew up was basically a tag game at night!

[@Bitshitter]

I was already in my 50s (I still am) when I first read that the "Eeny meeny miney moe" rhyme had racist origins, where the "n-word" was used instead of "Tiger" or other words. And I grew up in South Carolina, one of the original slave states of the United States. Never knew that rhyme had that dark history. But these rhymes do have regional influences, and to be truthful I never knew the rhyme to even use "Tiger" - it was always "Catch a rabbit by its toe". For one thing, this rhyme was always used with children - not even younger teens, but actually toddlers and even younger. Children that young don't want to envision catching a tiger by it's toe - the tiger would turn around and eat them. No sense in using a rhyme to decide between two things, just to give a child nightmares later that night. But a soft, cuddly, furry rabbit doesn't frighten young children, and in fact a young child would WANT to catch a rabbit if one was near, and hug and pet it. And in truth, rabbits will sometimes squeal loudly if it was caught by a limb. So the rhyme, "if it hollers, let it go" made perfect sense. A tiger would most likely NOT "holler" if one was to catch it by it's toe, and a tiger being a cat typically the idea was to catch it by it's TAIL, not toe. But then that would mess up the rhyme. "Catch a rabbit by it's toe" made more sense all the way around, and it didn't scare the bejeebers out of some 3-year old kid. And that's all I ever knew that rhyme went by......

[@DKGifford19608]

It was also on Seinfeld

[@CB-pf5lb]

Wasn't that clip deleted from this channel for some reason? Anyway, I'll say the same thing I said before. "Ink a dink" was recited on Seinfeld episode.

[@Whatarewetalkingabouthere]

Ghost in the graveyard is just tag at night basically. We did it in a small graveyard by my houses if I remember correctly, it was basically just tag.

[@edj1074]

the version I remember was someone (the ghost) hid and others would just walk around the area. The ghost whould pop out and try and grab a person. Once they did that person became the ghost for the next round

[@dansoys5712]

i'm the same age as Conan and from Connecticut and I do remember the Ink A Dink saying for picking a kickball player. As well as the bein the magazine part, but that was too long, usually just stopped with the first part. So maybe it's a regional thing.

[@Laki2]

We had something like that. I remember the magazine party but it was a 'patty cake' sort of thing.

[@beckyowens2635]

Before games of Ghost in the Graveyard/Hide and Seek/ Sardines, my friends and I used to use the rhyme "Bubble gum, Bubble gum in a dish. How many pieces do you wish." We'd also use "Inky binky bonky. Daddy had a donkey. Donkey died. Daddy Cried. Inky binky bonky." There were others of course, such as the classic "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe," but I'd never heard of "Ink a dink, bottle of ink" until I saw it on an episode of Seinfeld which many other commenters have also mentioned.

[@mikequinlivan8842]

I remember “Ink-a Dink-a bottle of ink,” from the Rage against the Machine song “Freedom.” 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@roadshowcreative]

one potato, two potato, three potato, four, five potato, six potato, seven potato, more!

[@dr.trebuchet3836]

I've heard people say, "let the baby have his bottle."

[@ChristianCChristian]

"It's not because I'm dirty / it's not because I'm clean / it's not because I kiss the boys behind a magazine" is a Rickie Lee Jones lyric.

[@thevirtualtraveler]

I don't know how wide spread it is/was but I had a friend who taught me "50 Horses in a Stable, 1 jumped OUT", as a shorter more concise alternative to eenie meenie mynie moe. There was a longer version of it, but I don't remember it now. I'm in my 40s and still use '50 horses' w/ regularity to decide things.

[@owleye303]

Miss Suzie had a steamboat, the steamboat had a bell 🎵

[@lachauntiswashington231]

Lol 🤣 😆 😂

[@rhapsodyinglue8758]

Ghosts in the Graveyard? It’s a classic. Cmon coney

[@stinkerton]

Ipsy bipsy bottle-y boo, i played the stage at Bonnaroo, but then i mentioned beef au jus, and my whole set went in the loo.

[@michelpage4877]

You’re Schmoopie! No, you’re Schmoopie!

[@davidvondoom2853]

Ippsy tippsy, little boy blue, fell down a hill and lost his shoe If you have to take a poo, make sure you do it in the lou

[@BigSherm]

Ghosts in the graveyard was a great game

[@davidvondoom2853]

I'm pretty sure that Seinfeld did Ink-a-dink on his sitcom.

[@thelonelyloner7]

Matt Gourly supermacy

[@darrinschwieters]

we used to say, "let the baby have his bottle"

[@thomaswiley4719]

"INKY BINKY BONKY, DADDY BOUGHT A DONKEY, DONKEY DIED, DADDY CRIED, INKY BUNKY BONKY"...why do I remember this.

[@LindaC616]

For the same reason that I can remember the French Christmas carols that I learned in high school 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@ejyounggun08]

My cousin and I used to sing this song and Idk where it comes from, surely there's a hand clapping pattern to it but it goes: One day I was walking. I saw my boyfriend talking - to a pretty little girl - with strawberry curls - and this is what he said to her, "I L-O-V-E love you. I K-I-S-S kiss you. I care for you and this is what she said to him, "Go to the river. Jump in! Sink to the bottom - can't swim! Who ya gonna marry? Sea-horse! What's gonna happen? Di-vorce!

[@djhrecordhound4391]

"Inka Dinka Doo" --Jimmy Durante

[@mattmopar440]

Ghost in the graveyard was a classic game

[@ser9656]

How, in Conan's world, did "Let the baby have its bottle", to "let the babies have their orange juice"?

[@kstepko]

When Edwardo trailed off after “einny meeny miney mo” and Conan insisted that he finish it, I thought he was trying to make the point that it used to take a racist turn that has now been substituted for “tiger”.

[@pemo2676]

me too - reminds me of an incident of jeremy clarkson saying it on the show Top gear

[@ebbderelict]

Same. "Tiger". HOW DARE THE WOKE CHANGE THE WORDS TO MY POEMS! /s

[@FreemanVashier]

Let the babies have their bottle!

[@mattmccartney5996]

Our regional version was: Smelly foot. Stepped in poo. Oh my God it's beef au jus!

[@ctrainbeats]

my first apostle, Terry Bagels