Conan O’Brien’s ‘unhinged’ Hot Ones interview is absolute chaos

Legendary comic Conan O’Brien’s latest interview has fans asking if what they witnessed was “comedy genius or a genuine breakdown”.

After more than 300 episodes, host Sean Evans’ internet talk show Hot Ones is honed to a fine art: Each episode, he faces off with a celeb, asking them about their life and career as they chow down on 10 increasingly spicy hot sauce-smothered chicken wings.

The show has made for some hilarious viral moments over the years – Jennifer Lawrence sobbed in pain during her Hot Ones appearance last year, cursing out Evans for making her endure such spiciness – but his latest guest, comedy legend Conan O’Brien, has topped even that.

Former talk show host (and Simpsons writer) O’Brien absolutely leaned in to the show’s conceit for his Hot Ones appearance, becoming increasingly manic and belligerent as he devoured each progressively spicier chicken wing.

At one point, O’Brien even chugged hot sauce directly from the bottle, taunting the host by asking “if there’s a point when these get warm – just a little bit warm?”

Jennifer Lawrence never did this.

It’s at the 20-minute mark he really unleashed, pouring hot sauce into his hands, rubbing it over his face – and then all over his shirt, screaming as he ran his hands over his nipples.

A few minutes later, the interview wrapped with O’Brien spitting milk down his chin as he somehow managed to promote his new TV show through the pain.

He’s never looked better.

“It’s a funny show, four episodes of me going all over the world, you check it out April 18. That’s right! My intestines have turned to acid and I can still remember the plug. That’s a professional!”

The show he’s talking about, Conan O’Brien Must Go, sees him visiting friends from around the world that he’s met through his podcast, surprising some of his fans while taking in local culture and sights. It’ll premiere locally on BINGE this Thursday.

He’s handling it well.

O’Brien’s balls-to-the-wall performance on Hot Ones has earned him much praise on social media, with some viewers declaring him the best guest in the show’s history.

“This may have been the best episode of hot ones I’ve ever seen. Conan is a national treasure,” one person tweeted.

Another fan called O’Brien’s stint “f**king insane. If you’ve ever been frustrated with celebs nibbling the wings and acting like they’ve been shot, then you’ll love Conan necking neat sauce out the bottle until he turns deep mauve while complaining that it’s pathetically mild. INSANE.”

“I love Conan on Hot Ones bc you can tell he immediately regretted it but kept it going for the bit,” another fan tweeted of his extreme antics.

“Not seen enough Conan to know whether his appearance on Hot Ones was comedy genius or a genuine breakdown. It was certainly something,” another person tweeted.

Another fan summed it up perfectly, tweeting a clip of a bright-red O’Brien spitting chicken bits as he insists he’s “perfectly f**king fine”: “Absolutely unhinged and instantly iconic.”