Bob Odenkirk Shared an “SNL” Office with Conan O'Brien: 'Nobody Made Me Laugh as Hard'
Bob Odenkirk Shared an “SNL” Office with Conan O'Brien: 'Nobody Made Me Laugh as Hard'
Virginia ChamleeWed, April 15, 2026 at 9:08 PM UTC
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Bob Odenkirk and Conan O'BrienCredit: Team Coco/Instagram -
Bob Odenkirk is recounting what it was like to share an office at Saturday Night Live with Conan O'Brien
Odenkirk said in a new interview he “didn't get any writing done” because he was laughing so much
The actor was a writer on the show from 1987 to 1991
Bob Odenkirk is looking back on his early days in comedy and the Saturday Night Live office mate who he says made the grind of late-night writing feel more like a daily performance than a job.
In a recent interview with Boston.com, Odenkirk, 63, reflected on his time at SNL roughly 35 years ago, when he was a young writer sharing an office with another up-and-coming comedy talent: a “kid from Brookline” also known as Conan O'Brien.
At the time, both were still carving out their voices inside one of television's most competitive comedy environments. But for Odenkirk, the experience was also defined by fun and a lot of laughter — largely thanks to O'Brien.
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Bob Odenkirk; Conan O'BrienCredit: Julia Beverly/WireImage; Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
“We had the greatest time together, except he made me laugh so much I didn't get any writing done. Nobody made me laugh at SNL as hard as Conan,” Odenkirk told the outlet.
He added: “I didn't help very much — but I did get a free show every day, all day, from laughing."
At the time, neither Odenkirk nor O'Brien had yet reached the heights of their later careers. Odenkirk would go on to become an acclaimed actor and writer, later starring in the series Better Call Saul, while O'Brien would become one of late-night television's most recognizable hosts with shows such as Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.
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Speaking to PEOPLE in an earlier interview for My Life in Pictures, Odenkirk reflected on his friendship with another SNL castmate — Chris Farley — and shared how he wrote Farley's most iconic sketch while the two worked together at the Chicago improv troupe Second City.
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"I wrote the motivational speaker for him, the 'Van Down by the River' sketch. At Second City, he had done an improvisation with me and everyone in the cast, and we had done an anti-drug rally, and he played a coach who is essentially Matt Foley," Odenkirk said at the time. "The night after I saw him do that improvisation, I wrote that sketch just exactly as it's done."
He continued: "I've written many sketches in my life, and almost none didn't need to be rewritten. This one did not need to be rewritten."
Elsewhere in the conversation, Odenkirk said of Farley, "The idea of saying, 'Well, I saw Chris and I thought he was talented,' well, so did everybody who saw Chris. And he was very lovable too. He was very warm. He treated me like I was some sort of genius, which I am not."
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
