-Welcome to the show, everybody.
I want to welcome everyone who watched our
10-year anniversary special earlier tonight.
That was so much fun.
Crazy looking back on all the stuff
that we've done all these years.
-It's crazy. -I mean, yeah,
but me and you, by the way,
Steve Higgins, I couldn't do the show without Steve Higgins.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Couldn't do the show without you.
We've known each other --
We've known each other for... -'98?
-Since 1998. -1998.
-26 years. -That's almost 10 years.
-Steve writes and produces on "Saturday Night Live."
And we did so many bits together.
Barry Gibb talk show. We've done Corksoakers.
-Yep. -Celebrity Jeopardy.
Jeopardys. -All the stuff.
-My favorite one was when
we had to think of the bit for Mick Jagger.
-Oh, my God. -We thought of 300 bits
and we go, "We'll put this one in two."
-No, what happened was I went to Lorne
because Mick Jagger was the musical guest
and he wanted to do a sketch
and I go, "I got a good idea.
What if I, like, do Mick in a mirror?"
[ as Mick Jagger ] You know, I talk like that, you know?
[ Normal voice ] And Lorne goes, "Please don't do that."
[ Laughter ]
He goes, "It's been done, Jimmy.
It's been done. Lucille Ball has done it," blah, blah, blah.
The Marx Brothers -- Don't do it.
It's lame.
I go, "Okay." So we pitch ideas to Mick Jagger.
And I pitched him... -Probably 30 ideas.
-30 ideas. I'm like, and he's really nice.
So I'm like, "Here's me and you.
We work at a Sunglass Hut" or whatever.
And he was like, "No, don't like that."
And I go, "Here's me and you.
You clone yourself as Keith Richards."
He's like, "No, I don't really like that."
And I go, "Uh, here's me and you
eating ice cream, licking it off the same cone."
He goes, "No, I don't really like that."
And so I'm running -- flop sweat's coming down.
I'm running out of ideas. I go, "How about you come on?
You're like, 'Why am I doing the show?
I've done it so many times in the '70s and the '80s,'
and I'm your reflection in the mirror.
And I'm like, "Yeah, we'll do that."
And he goes, "Oh, I like that."
[ Laughter ]
So I had to go to Lorne.
I had to go to Lorne and go -- oh yeah, I go,
"The good news is he wants to do a sketch.
Bad news, we're doing the mirror bit."
-"Oh!" -But it turned out to be
one of the best things ever. -It was great.
And we had to build the set so fast.
-Overnight. We wrote it on a Friday.
-Yeah, it was crazy.
-But do you remember when I first came
and asked you to be my sidekick and announcer?
-Oh, yeah. At the Paul Weller concert with Fred.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
-We went to Irving Plaza
and I was running over there,
and I didn't know that you were going to be there.
-I went with Fred Armisen. -Yeah.
-He goes, "You want to go see --"
Because he knows all of the -- He goes,
"Want to go see Paul Weller?" I go, "Yeah."
So I see we're standing behind you
and I think I put my knee in your leg so you went like that.
-Yeah. Yeah. You did some type of joke for me,
but I go, "Hey, I was actually going to talk to you"
and you go, "Before you say anything,
I just want to let you know I want to help you
with whatever you do with your show."
And I go, "That's what I was going to ask you.
I want you to be my sidekick, my announcer."
-"Oh, my God." -Yeah, that's where it happened.
And now here we are. [ Applause ]
Thank you very much for all the laughs and all the fun.
Of course, The Roots over there.
We couldn't do without The Roots,
ladies and gentlemen, right there, the best band.
[ Cheers and applause ]
In all the land.
10 years. -10 years.
-10 years of "Tonight Show,"
but 5 years of "Late Night," too, on top of that.
And do you remember how we first got in touch with each other?
-You came -- Well, you asked Neal Brennan.
-Yeah, I asked Neal Brennan,
who was a writer and producer on "Chappelle's Show,"
if he wants to help with "Late Night."
He goes, "No, I'm going to kind of focus on comedy."
And I go, "Comedy? Like stand-up comedy?"
And now he's one of the best, you know, stand-ups out there.
And so he goes, "No thanks."
He goes, "But who's going to be your band?"
I go, "I don't know yet. I don't know."
He goes, "You got to pick a good one
because Conan has a great band.
I mean, it's got Max Weinberg.
That's a great --" I go, "I know."
He's like, "You know what? You should ask The Roots."
I go, "You think The Roots would be my house band?"
He goes, "Oh, no, but you should ask them..."
[ Laughter ] "...because they'll help you.
They know people and they'll help you get a band,
but they're -- No."
So I go, "Oh." Then I go,
"What's the worst that could happen?"
So I asked The Roots, their manager, Richard,
at the time, Richard Nichols, and I said,
I asked him, and then I didn't hear back for two months?
Three months? -Three months.
-Four months? I'm like, "Yeah, I get it.
They're just not that into you."
So okay. [ Laughter ]
And then I stalked you, right?
-Yeah, you did the same thing that you did with Higgins.
You cornered us at a concert. [ Laughter ]
-Yeah, I cornered you in the most polite, charming way.
-Yeah. -I saw you at UCLA. Right?
-We were getting our "no" ready -- our "no" ready --
and then I did an interview and then came out of my trailer.
And you convinced these guys to get in a human pyramid.
-Yeah, yeah.
-Yeah, we got it in a cheerleader pyramid.
-And that's when I knew you weren't taking no for an answer.
-Right. [ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
-It's great to look at all those memories and all that stuff
and just have all the fun that we've had on the show.
And I can't thank this crew and staff enough.
Everybody has been with us since day one,
and I just love you and thank you, of course,
to everyone here tonight and everyone watching at home.
You changed my life. Changed my life.
Thank you so much.