Great Hair Meets Great Beard: Conan O’Brien Talks Late Night with Pierre Robert

One of the most noticed features when you see someone is their hair. And by extension a great mustache, beard or combo facial hair setup can also be iconic. So what happens when a late night host with incredible hair chats with a radio DJ with long hair and a legendary beard? You get quite a comical and honest conversation.

Such a chat took place in the early 1990's. Then Late Night host Conan O'Brien called in to talk shop with Pierre Robert. Conan was just only a hundred or so shows into the program after stepping in after David Letterman left. Since today, April 18th 2026, is Conan's 63rd birthday we take you back to that conversation.

At this point, Conan was only about 130 shows in. Practically a rookie in late night terms. And as he tells Pierre, audiences were still figuring him out.

“Initially people used to come and see the show and they didn’t know who I was,” he says. “Now fans are coming… and that just makes for an even better audience.” It’s a fascinating snapshot of a moment when Conan wasn’t yet a household name but was clearly on his way.

What stands out most is how intentional Conan was about shaping the show’s identity. Unlike his predecessor David Letterman, Conan wasn’t trying to replicate anything.

“I would hope that down the line they’d see that’s not even what we’re trying to do,” he explains. “I’m not even trying to do a show like that.”

Instead, he leaned into experimentation especially when it came to music and comedy. He proudly notes the show gave early exposure to new bands and stand-ups, embracing the idea that 12:30AM should be a space to “play around and make it kind of a fresh forum.”

Pierre of course leaned into the music aspect of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Each late night show typically has a house band of incredibly talented musicians. In Conan's case he hit the proverbial lottery knabbing the drummer for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Max Weinstein.

And how they got together was true synchonicity. Conan literally bumped into the E Street Band drummer on a New York street corner while hunting for aspirin. A quick conversation later, and boom—the Max Weinberg 7 was born.

Conan also lets Pierre in on one of his comedic philosophies: “Comedy is mostly lying.”

That explains bits like the fake viewer mail and absurd props—where he’d claim items were sent in from obscure places, only to reveal something completely ridiculous. It’s the kind of playful absurdity that would become a hallmark of his show.

What makes this flashback so great is how honest Conan is about the uncertainty of it all. He openly admits the business is volatile, the future is unpredictable, and he’s just trying to keep getting better.

And yet—even here—you can hear it: the timing, the wit, the weirdness. It’s all already there.