Conan O’Brien had some pretty epically hilarious “Late Night” guests over the years. But much like gently kneaded dough half an hour into forming, one guest has risen above all others.
That guest is Steven Kaplan, the history professor, author and bread expert, who will tell you exactly how baking and consuming bread is akin to … ahem … a sensual experience.
Kaplan originally appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” to promote his book “Good Bread Is Back” back in February 2007, but the video still goes viral to this very day.
Just what makes Kaplan’s interview so legendary? For one thing, he’s a master with zingers, dishing out amazing off-the-cuff one liners like “it’s got no theology, so a Catholic shouldn’t be worried about it,” that even caught O’Brien off guard. “This guy is casually funnier than most comedians,” one person remarked in the comments.
Another noted, “If this isn’t one of the most impressive segments I’ve ever seen. The natural comedic talent of the bread guy, Conan’s ability to feed off of the bread guys jokes and energy, the way they compliment each other, and the fact this comes off as unscripted and completely genuine comedy. I wasn’t expecting this.”
But really, it’s Kaplan’s carb-induced passion (in the most literal sense of the word) that makes it all completely next level. “It’s pretty much like a sexual act,” he tells a bug-eyed O’Brien, before—I kid you not—stroking, fondling AND caressing various loaves. The words “inseminate,” “swells” and “mount” may or may not have been used.
Check it out below. Warning: you’ll laugh, sure. But you’ll also never look at a loaf the same way again…
Things really kick off when Kaplan splits the bread open and thrusts his face in to get a “surging of a geyser of aromas.” No words can really do it justice, but suffice it to say … it certainly brings up an evocative image.
O’Brien, who can barely contain himself, quips at the end that “if this segment airs tonight, I’ll be very, very surprised.”
But air it did, and now Kaplan sharing his unbridled love of bread is widely regarded by O’Brien fans as his single greatest interview.