Conan O’Brien and his show’s associate producer Jordan Schlansky recently traveled to Italy together. According to Conan, Jordan is a “self-proclaimed expert of all things Italian,” as he’s traveled there before 30 different times.
Their road trip — in a tiny red vintage Fiat, no less — began in Florence and ended in Naples, the same route Jordan has driven many times sans his boss.
Now, in case you haven’t seen their previous interactions, Jordan is the perfect “uptight straight man” to Conan’s over-the-top “funny man” shenanigans. And there are definitely some over-the-top shenanigans on this road trip. For instance, while walking down a street, Conan starts yelling out pasta names as if they were legit greetings to random Italians, “Rigatoni!”
In the next segment, Jordan, not once cracking a smile, strips naked to pose for Conan’s drawing class. You get the picture.
I’ve seen all of the Conan Without Borders (imo, it’s the best work Team Coco creates), and I think this particular one is the funniest yet. The entire playlist for it is here and includes behind-the-scenes footage and a Q&A segment.