What happened in this episode?
Conan O’Brien speaks with actor and writer Rob Delaney, currently working with O’Brien on an upcoming Apple series also featuring Elizabeth Banks and Katey Sagal, though both avoid plot details. Delaney recounts how Catastrophe, the Channel 4 sitcom he co-wrote and co-starred in with Sharon Horgan, became the project that “opened every other door” in his career, aided by its low-cost, dialogue-driven production. He describes using early Twitter to publish tightly written jokes while working in a call-centre “boiler room” job, which unexpectedly helped him sell tickets for stand-up in London and led to an opportunity to write a BBC pilot, where he connected with Horgan.
The conversation turns personal as Delaney discusses intergenerational friendship and family life, including meeting his wife while volunteering at Camp Jabberwocky on Martha’s Vineyard and later relocating with young children to London for Catastrophe. He says the move was “super difficult”, that he became consumed by work, and that he had to change how he approached his marriage.
Delaney also gives a detailed sobriety account, saying he drank heavily from age 12 to 25 and became sober after crashing a car into a building while in a blackout, after which a judge offered rehab instead of jail. Later, he speaks about the death of his son Henry from brain cancer in 2018, rejecting euphemisms and saying the loss reshaped how he works and what he prioritises. O’Brien and Delaney also reflect on the mixed experience of fame and the discipline of focusing on the craft rather than premieres or attention.
