Conan O’Brien talks with comedian Taylor Tomlinson about writing and promoting her book, "Actually, Never Mind", and about the gap between public performance and private self-assessment. O’Brien and Tomlinson discuss how internet commentary distorts feedback, with O’Brien describing how even well-meant remarks can be heard as criticism and Tomlinson admitting she can interpret “honest” praise as a proxy for “not funny”.
A substantial section centres on Tomlinson’s childhood and mental health. After O’Brien reads a paragraph from her book listing major life reversals, Tomlinson says she was diagnosed with bipolar 2 and offers a non-clinical explanation of hypomania versus mania. She also speaks at length about her mother’s death when Tomlinson was eight and says it produced a persistent fear of dying young, alongside wider ripple effects on identity and decision-making.
Tomlinson says she called off an engagement after questioning whether she had been trying to marry quickly to meet family and religious expectations. She describes her younger siblings as a grounding influence who can both support her and puncture her self-seriousness. The episode also includes extended comic bits on big heads, birthdays, and a running American Girl doll gag, alongside O’Brien’s reflections on ambition, approval and ageing.
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"It's I mean, it's just as opposed to bipolar one. I I don't know."
On Conan O’Brien’s podcast, comedian Taylor Tomlinson says she was diagnosed with bipolar II. She offers a non-clinical, personal understanding of how bipolar II differs from bipolar I, stressing it is “the way it’s been explained to me” and noting she is not an expert.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I think afterward, and I didn't really put it together until I was a little older, but apparently it's a very common fear um when someone has a parent die young, they assume they're going to die at that same age or they're going to die very young as well."
Taylor Tomlinson says that after her mother died young, she began “preparing” for her own death and later recognised it as a common fear among children bereaved early. She says the anxiety persisted into adulthood and still resurfaces as she nears the age at which her mother died.
