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How Sona Movsesian went from Conan O'Brien's hard-working assistant to the "world's worst"

Sona Movsesian's memoir is "The World's Worst Assistant"
Penguin Random House
Sona Movsesian's memoir is "The World's Worst Assistant"

If you know and love Sona Movsesian from Conan O’Brien’s TV and podcast comedy empire, you might be surprised to learn about her humbler beginnings.

Her rise from a somewhat unfocused Southern California adolescence as the daughter of Armenian immigrants to go-getter to comfortable office worker who once binged more “Friends” episodes than there are hours in a work week is chronicled in her new book.

“The World’s Worst Assistant” is a memoir of Movsesian’s experiences working and traveling alongside the late night host — and a how-to guide for anyone who wants to take it relatively easy at work.

Welcome, Sona.

That was a beautiful introduction. And thank you so much, Ian. That was so lovely. I know I wrote a book called “The World's Worst Assistant.” But when I hear it come back at me, it's like, wow, I really have gotten away with a lot.

It's a great book. I loved reading it. And it's nice having you in my headphones. I've listened to every minute of the Conan podcast. So, I'm sure you hear this all the time. But I feel like I know you a little bit, just in that in that weird way through a cell phone and by some remove, but it's very exciting to talk to you.

Oh, I'm so happy to hear that. I know that the podcast has been such an exciting thing for me, just because I never imagined myself on a podcast, especially one that a lot of people listened to. And so there's moments where I'll be out, you know, at a store and someone will be like, I recognize your voice. And it's, it's so it's so bizarre to me. I mean, Conan's been used to it for 30 years, but I get so excited when people know who I am. I know that sounds sad. But I just get super excited when people recognize anything about me.

At the end of your book, you talk about this transition of sorts after being Conan O'Brien’s assistant for a dozen years to now being, you know, someone who makes stuff, who makes comedy and appears in his projects and so on. Are you rethinking your role alongside Conan now that you've got this ability and notoriety?

Oh, no. I think I will be his assistant until, until he dies. I'm saying he dies because he's definitely going to die before me. So I'm gonna ride this way for as long as I can. It's really nice to have that security blanket. Because you know, this other part where I'm on this podcast, and he's put me on the show a few times, it's never something that I sought out. And it's not something I am going to bank on, I guess is the best way to say it. So, you know, being his assistant is where I see myself. And that job is evolving, because someone else is actually now doing most of that job for me. So whatever this situation is, which is I get to work with him in some capacity, and then I get to do this podcast, and I have a lot of fun. And I get to talk to really cool people like you and I get to do have time to do side projects, like my book. This is where I want to be. I don't need to go anywhere else from here. So I'm just embracing this moment right now.

Well, it's very nice of you to mention me, but I know you're mainly in it to meet Slash.

And Cher. Oh, Ian, if I meet Cher, I'm just going to quit everything. I mean, Slash was on my list and then Cher is on my list, any Laker’s on my list. We interviewed Shaq. So I think that whenever I look at it, I’m like, how does this benefit me? How can I make this benefit me as much as possible? And you know, I feel like when they booked Slash they did it not only because he’s Slash, but they did it just because they know how much I loved him.

And Cher’s one of your Armenian American heroes, right?

Yeah, she's Cher. I mean, she's an icon just as an American, but also the fact that she's half Armenian. Me, my mom, my best friend and her mom went to her concert a couple of not a couple of years ago. It's been like, at least four years now. And I just remember, you know, we were, we were like five Armenian ladies hanging out, although one of the Armenian women, which was Cher, had no idea she was hanging out with us, but we just glommed on to that part of her and we were like, you know, it's just it's so refreshing to have someone who is such a megastar, but also shares some cultural background with us and so I think, because she’s Cher and also just because she's an Armenian icon, I am desperate to meet her. I think she's top of the list for me for sure.

Well, not that long ago, you had twins and you married an Armenian man. Was that part of the plan? I'm curious how that came together as the daughter of immigrants.

Part of my mom's plan. If I look back on it, he's the first Armenian guy I ever dated. And I really didn't think I would ever end up with an Armenian guy just because I would say at this point, I'm a lot more Americanized, then, you know, I, I think that my parents expected me to be. But I met him and I fell in love with him. And I would have married him even if he wasn't Armenian. But it really did make things easier, I guess, in a way. His parents, I speak to them in Armenian, and we had a massive Armenian wedding. And but you know, I never sought out to marry an Armenian guy. And I really didn't think I ever would. And now I have two Armenian babies who I think you could probably hear in the background, and I'm sorry, if you can. But yeah, we're just a very Armenian household now, which is tricky because I am a child of Armenian immigrants. And you do constantly feel this pull from both directions. It's how American can you be and how Armenian should you be? And can you become assimilated and Americanized and go through the college system and the school system and start a career here and still maintain a huge sense of your Armenian identity. And for me, that's always been important. And I want to raise my kids with that sense of importance. But, you know, I think for my parents, it was very important that I married an Armenian guy, I think I would just be happy if my kids met someone that they loved and married, whoever it was. They don't have to be Armenian. So, you know, it is it is your typical immigrant experience. I mean, my husband is from Armenia, so he can't get more Armenian. I really struck the Armenian jackpot there.

If you don't mind my asking, you strike me as somebody who has been kind of spontaneous in your life. You write in this book about always being up to go on a remote with Conan, jump on a plane, go across the world. And now, you know, you're a first-time mother, you had twins relatively late in life to do that. How is your life changing?

Oh, it's completely different than it was. You know, I was detached. And I tell people that Conan was my most important relationship up until I met my husband. I was a serial dater. I never had other serious relationships in my life, and until my husband, and so it's changed drastically. I'm turning 40 this year. And when I think about where I was when I first started working for Conan, I mean, I was in my 20s, I was a party girl, I was up for anything. I remember I was in New York once, and I was like hanging out with my friends. And I'm like, you know what, guys, I'm gonna come back next week. And I took out my phone and I booked a ticket back to New York the following week. And it was, my entire life was defined by spontaneity. And I remember one year, my New Year's resolution was to go on a trip every month, no matter where it was, just go on a trip somewhere. I'm really happy I had that moment where I had that kind of spontaneity and I had this job that was so much fun to go to. And now and if I'm going to be honest with you, I would just be exhausted. I think back on that and I think I love where my life is now. And I'm so, so, so happy that I got to experience all that and I got to do all that but there is a point where you're like, OK, now it's time to just chill and you know, go to bed at 9 p.m. and watch one show instead of watching an entire series and in a day and I think that you know, that's where I am now. I'm not I'm not even the priority anymore. It's all about my boys at this point. So I do hope that they feel that sense of spontaneity and I would love to live vicariously through them. But you're right things have really changed. I mean, from where I was when I first started working for Conan to where I am now it's I'm two completely different people. And both of them I think are really cool.

Let's go back. How did you first hook up with Conan?

So I worked at NBC as an intern. Then I got into the page program. And then while I was a page, I got a job in the events and operations department. And then when I heard Conan was going to move to Los Angeles to do ‘The Tonight Show,’ I remember telling people I was like, I want a job on that show. And so I applied for a PA job which was just a production assistant job. And our line producer Sarah Federowicz, she pulled my resume out of the pile because they were also finding a replacement for Conan's assistant who had been with him for I think about 11 years. But they just couldn't list, Oh, Conan's looking for an assistant, apply for it because then they would have been inundated with applications. So they just took resumes out of this pile to be a PA and then they called me and they were like, hey, you know, we got your resume. But we're gonna bring you in to interview to be Conan's assistant. Is that OK with you? And I was like, yeah, that's totally fine. And then, you know, I, at that time, knew the publicist for ‘Late Night,’ and he put in a good word for me. So, you know, it was just perfect timing and luck. I wish there was something, because people ask me all the time what they could do to get into my line of work. And I hate that I have to respond with this. But I always have to tell them that I got to where I am because of good timing and luck. And, and obviously, you know, I can't say hard work. I was a good worker. But I think that, as my book illustrates, it wasn't the reason I got my job, I think I got my job just because Conan and I clicked from the moment we met. We were on the same page. And I think that both of us kind of knew that. And then we had coffee the day after I got my job. And I remember, at coffee, both he and I were talking about what we both were looking for, what he was looking for out of an assistant and what I was looking for out of a job and we were just completely on the same page. And that that sort of relationship has definitely evolved over the years. But that foundation was there from the very beginning.

Your book is called ‘The World's Worst Assistant.’ And Conan often makes fun of you for lack of work ethic or screwing things up. But I have my suspicions that that hasn't always been the case. I mean, you had to have a certain level of competence, in addition to the relationship — he just liked having you around — to last as long as you have.

Absolutely. I mean, it definitely is tongue in cheek that I'm the world's worst. I think if I was as bad as we joke that I am then I think he would have definitely had a reputation for never being anywhere on time, for always forgetting things for missing appointments. I think the reason he has sort of glommed on and I've sort of like attached myself to that idea is because I own up to every imperfection that I have. And I think that anytime I messed up, instead of doing what a lot of people in TV do, or entertainment in general, which is try to find an excuse or scapegoat or whatever, I always used to own up to my mistakes. I still do. So I think that when the moment that I started just sort of owning my imperfections then it snowballed but I'm definitely not as bad as he says, or even as I say. I talk about this in my book where I talk about that it's important to present to other people this idea that you're actually competent, and anytime I've worked with other offices, I think they've thought oh yes, Sona is really good at her job. But then this other side with Conan where I'm just this goofball. And I do binge a lot of TV at work and I do, you know, watch a lot of inappropriate content sometimes and I do forget things and I do let things kind of fall through the cracks and he's really important, he thinks do details are really important. And I am really bad at details, which is an important quality for an assistant to have to care about the details, but I never could care about them as much as he wanted me to. So, you know, am I the best? No, but am I really the worst? No, I am definitely just somewhere in the middle. And I think whatever deficiencies I had I made up for in other ways. I think you're right, I don't think that I'm actually the worst. And I don't think he would have kept me employed for over 13 years if I was as bad as both of us joke that I am.

You and I are relatively close in age. And this is something I think about a lot with my peers and friends. And you write about this in your book, too, which is at a certain point, you kind of made peace with your level of ambition. You realized you were kind of happy in the job you had and you weren't trying to be the head of Warner Brothers or whatever. How did you come to that sort of place in your life?

I mean, it's liberating, Ian, just kind of — because you when you're an assistant that isn't looked at as a final job, it’s looked at as a stepping stone to something else. And so the biggest question I always got, especially in the very beginning, when I had first started working for Conan was what is the next step after this, and I was enjoying myself at work, so I wasn't looking for anything else. And then people would ask, you know, as time went on, what's the next step? What do you want to do after this? What do you think you're going to do? And I finally got to a point where I said, why do I have to think about the next thing? Why do I have to stop doing this anytime soon? And it was a very liberating idea to realize that I was, you know, making a good living, I was working with people I admired and looked up to, they cared about my opinions. And I just got to a point where I said, this is good. I like this. I don't need to go anywhere else. I don't need to become some executive somewhere. I don't need to run. Like you said, I don't need to run Warner Brothers. And I would be terrible at that.

think that I just got to a point where I said, I love this job. I'm happy here. And I don't need anything else right now. And once I got to that point, it felt like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, because I was at that point, you know, like, OK, I'm an intern, what's next? I need a job, OK, I'm a page. Now I need to stop being a page and get a job. OK, now I'm at this job. And I've done everything I could do it this job, so I need another job. And then, it's like, up until that point, I was constantly like, what's next? What's next? What's next? And now I just got to a point where I was like, Oh, I don't need what's next. I'm happy here. And I'm just gonna see where this takes me. And, and once I got to that point, where I was just happy and comfortable. You know, it was it that my job evolved. And eventually it stopped being I'm just an assistant. I'm also I get to be on the show a few times. Now I'm on the podcast. And so, you know, sticking it out was definitely one of the best decisions I made. But not just that, but just being happy and content with where I am. That was, I think, one of the most sort of powerful moments definitely in my career, was getting to the point where I said, this is good. I don't need anything else right now.

What is the key to the relationship between the two of you?

Ah, well, I think, you know, he’s my boss. And I think that the most important thing, and something I had to learn was, no matter what happens, he's my boss. And you know, our relationship will evolve where he'll go from being my boss, to my friend to family, which I look at him as family now. He's like an older brother to me. But at the end of the day, he's still my boss. And I think that, you know, it's important for me to always remember that and it's important for me to always see that. But I think that when it comes to why think people are drawn to our relationship and why people are drawn to our dynamic, is just because even though he's my boss, that aspect of him exists in my life where he he's also my family. He's like family to me, so I can talk to him in a much more sort of relaxed way. I could be very frank with him, I could be very open with him. I can talk to him. I talked about my dating episodes with him, you know, there are moments where I would talk to him like, he was just, you know, another assistant on the show. And we were just two pals. And I think sometimes people look at him as a really iconic figure. And to see somebody who's not an iconic figure like me talk to him in such a brutally frank way, I think is something people are really drawn to I think. And I don't think that I could ever handle it in a different way. I don't think that I could ever be that person who is just fawning over someone and like, you know, what am I trying to say? I don't think that I'm somebody who will ever … I can't be a yes man, I think is the best way to say it. And he won't ever surround himself with people who are yes men. So I think that there is definitely that element to it. I mean, you were talking about how you like the podcast, and on the podcast, I make fun of him a lot. And I ridicule him all the time about different things that he says and I think and when I was on the show, people loved that I asked him to buy me a house. And what I want is for people to be able to put themselves into my shoes. And to know that even though there is the there are these figures that are larger than life, they're still human beings. And it's OK to talk to them like they're human beings sometimes.

Well, I was so glad it was in your book, but can you tell the Michael Jackson story?

Oh, that story. This was so early on when I started working for him that I didn't fully get his the way he like interacts with his staff. So he called me every day before he got to work on the way to work. He would call me just to check in and figure out a schedule. And so this was, I think, a day after Michael Jackson had died. And he called me and he was like, OK, so this is the schedule for the day. We have to do this. We have to do this. And he's like, Oh, also, can you do me a favor? Can you call Drew, who was our publicist. At the time he's like, can you call Drew and figure out how I can get a moment alone with Michael. And I remember being like Michael, Michael Jackson? And he's like, Yeah, Michael Jackson, just figure out how I can get a moment alone to say goodbye. You know, just to just kind of be alone with his body and say goodbye to him. And I wrote it down in my notebook. I wrote down, you know, ‘Call Drew — time alone with Michael Jackson's body to say goodbye.’

And then we hung up and I was like OK, how do I do this? How do I contact the Jackson family? Should I go through Drew? Is it a personal request? I mean, all these gears were turning about how I would get Conan O'Brien in a room alone with Michael Jackson's body. And then he called me back a few minutes later, and he was like, Hey, OK, so I have a couple other things. Can you call my lawyer and ask her to look over this document, do this, and then also, can you ask her how I can adopt Blanket? And that's when I was like, OK, what this is Michael Jackson's? Yeah, you want to adopt Michael Jackson's child now. And then I was like, I remember just being like, is this a bit and he started laughing at me. He just, he was like, did you think I was serious about the body? And I go, Uh, you know, I thought you were joking, but I wasn't sure. And I was going to ask you about it when you came in. And then he came in. And then he looked at my notebook where it said ‘Call Drew — time alone with Michael Jackson's body to say goodbye.’ And he's looked at that written down in my notebook, and he showed everyone, he was like 'Sona thought I wanted to say goodbye to Michael Jackson. And she was gonna get me alone with his body.' What a horrible hazing experience this is. And you know, I mean, it's sort of backfired because now most of the time, I'm like, is this a bit? Are you doing a bit? I feel like I've been scarred from that moment because it was so early on, and I was like, I can't trust anything this man says anymore. I just can't believe him.

We kind of started talking about how you're not really a showbiz person, but at this stage of the game, you know, you've been around the top minds in comedy. You've been around Conan O'Brien for a while and you've carved out your own role, especially on the podcast. What makes you laugh? Where do you find your sense of humor nowadays, after spending the past dozen year, in a late night production studio?

You know what, I'll always laugh at fart jokes. And I'll always laugh at poop jokes. I mean, I think I have a very juvenile sense of humor. But I love laughing and I, you know, I think I definitely would never call myself a comedian. And I would never call myself a comedian, because I've worked around comedians, and they need to make people laugh. And I've noticed that about every comedian I've ever interacted with is that it's a high for them when they get a really good reaction out of somebody that they're talking to. And I've seen that from Conan, where he'll start a bit. And then, you know, if I start laughing, he puts just as much effort into making me laugh as he would an audience of, you know, 3000 people, he's just, you know, it never ends. And I think that over the course of working here, I don't think that my sense of humor has changed at all. I think my sense of humor is exactly the same as it was when I was like, you know, 15 I think that the same things I laughed at back then I still laugh at. I want to say that it's more sophisticated. But that is absolutely not true. I think that that is just the same and the happiest moments for me, at this job or just in life in general, are moments when I can't breathe because I'm laughing so hard. And after working for Conan, those moments have become so frequent, and especially now doing the podcast, there are moments where I just double over in laughter and I think that I'm just the luckiest person in the world because I get to be such an active spectator in such incredible interactions between some brilliant comedic minds. And so you know, I'm really happy to just kind of stay in that position just as a spectator like with my front row seat to just be able to see all these gears turning and to interact with people who just make me you know, double over in laughter.

Well, Sona Movsesian, I'm a big fan of yours and of the whole crew, obviously of Conan's, and it's just been great to talk with you. The name of the book is ‘The World's Worst Assistant.’ I'll be sending you a Fracture print of the cover. And thank you so much for speaking with us.

Also send me some Mizzen and Main Clothing, please.

I may never have the chance to do this again, so: ‘Kedakai! As God made her!’

As God made her! Ian, it’s been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so, so much. Thank you.

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A lifelong resident of the Capital Region, Ian joined WAMC in late 2008 and became news director in 2013. He began working on Morning Edition and has produced The Capitol Connection, Congressional Corner, and several other WAMC programs. Ian can also be heard as the host of the WAMC News Podcast and on The Roundtable and various newscasts. Ian holds a BA in English and journalism and an MA in English, both from the University at Albany, where he has taught journalism since 2013.
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