Podcast Summary: "The House Dick"

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend — December 4, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend features a playful conversation with Trisha from the Philippines, who, along with her husband, manages a small hotel and restaurant. The hosts—Conan O’Brien, Matt Gourley, and Sona Movsesian—dive into Trisha’s entrepreneurial journey, the hospitality business, and Filipino cuisine, all while sharing comedic sketches and their trademark banter. Central to the episode is the exploration of running a boutique hotel and boosting a struggling restaurant, with Conan and Matt humorously offering to help—especially by becoming the resident “house detective” (or “house dick”).

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Meet Trisha: The Hotelier from the Philippines

• Trisha joins from Santo Tomas, Batangas, about an hour south of Manila ([02:13]).
• She’s happily married to Patrick and has a daughter about to turn three ([03:52]).
• Trisha and Patrick run a 22-room hotel, the Bravo Tanauan Hotel, and an in-house restaurant, Victorina’s Modern Restaurant and Bar ([04:42]; [07:07]).

2. Business Challenges and Marketing the Restaurant

• The hotel is thriving, but the restaurant is struggling with low foot traffic ([05:02]).
• Trisha wants more locals, not just hotel guests, to dine at the restaurant.
• Matt immediately jokes about marketing—suggesting a new name: "International House of Pancakes" (IHOP), Filipino style ([07:19]):
  • Matt Gourley: “We're going to change that name... We're going to call it the International House of Pancakes. Or IHOP for short.” ([07:20])

3. Careers in Hospitality — and Matt’s New Role

• Jokes abound about Matt and Conan helping out—in the kitchen, as servers, or running reception ([05:57], [08:11]).
• The conversation turns to uniforms, with Trisha describing the desk attendants’ scarves and uniform—Matt fantasizes about classic hotel bellhop attire and implements ([08:47], [17:02]).

4. The House Detective Sketch

• Matt introduces the concept of the “house dick” (old-timey hotel detective):
  • Matt Gourley: “Is it my job... to make sure that couples that say they're married really are married and sort of be the house detective? Do I get to pry into their personal lives at all?” ([09:23])
• The crew improvises a hilarious roleplay: Conan, Sona, and the team “check in” under suspicious circumstances while Matt interrogates (“You got lipstick all over your face, buddy!”) ([10:25-11:29]).
• The concept comes full circle with Matt relishing his persona:
  • Matt Gourley: “There’s white men and then there’s me. I’m a very, very white man... I want to be the house detective. That and also the I want to be dressed as a bellman, but working the front desk.” ([08:30], [19:47])

5. Trisha’s Path to Hospitality

• The hotel was founded on land owned by Patrick’s grandparents, catering to visiting engineers near an industrial park ([17:38]).
• Trisha’s background is in the arts, not hospitality; her family’s medical tradition made a business career seem the “safer” choice ([18:21]).
  • Trisha: “I was more into the arts. I actually belong to a family of doctors, so I was so out of place... I decided to take business so I can do more things.” ([18:21])

6. Filipino Cuisine and Local Color

• Matt asks if he’d be welcome in the Philippines, and they joke he’d be a local “attraction” for his height and red hair ([21:26]).
• Conversation takes a turn to intense Filipino dishes:
  • Balut — fertilized duck egg; Trisha says, “Sometimes you can even feel, like, the tiny bones go down your throat.” ([20:33])
  • Dinuguan — savory stew made with pig’s blood, which Conan mislabels as goat’s blood, drawing big laughs ([22:01]).
• Conan O’Brien (on balut): “And you just have balut the rest of your life.” ([20:30])
• Matt Gourley: “When you think about it, it’s no different than eating chicken. Or eating any fetus, so.” ([20:48])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Matt Gourley (about helping the restaurant):
  “How could I help?”
  Trisha: “You can help by serving the people. You can be a waiter.” ([05:57])
• Matt Gourley (on the name change):
  “We're going to change that name... We're going to call it the International House of Pancakes... and when they come in, they get, you know, authentic food from the Philippines... Eat your food and fucking shut up.” ([07:19])
• Classic hotel bit:
  “Is it my job as the person at the front desk to make sure that couples that say they're married really are married... to be the house detective?” ([09:23])
• Filipino delicacies:
  Matt: “Do you like balot?”
  Trisha: “My dad does, though, but I don’t. You have to eat that, though.” ([20:12])
• On Conan’s potential fame in the Philippines:
  Matt: “Am I known in the Philippines?”
  Trisha: “They’d definitely be happy to see you... six foot four, man with red hair... Like, come see the tall white guy.” ([21:14–21:34])

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [01:43] – Welcome, Trisha! Meet the guest and her background.
• [04:42] – Trisha describes her hotel and restaurant.
• [05:02] – Discussion of restaurant’s struggles and need for marketing.
• [07:19] – Matt’s IHOP joke and riff, renaming the restaurant.
• [09:23] – The “house detective”/hotel sketch bit begins.
• [10:25–11:29] – Improvised check-in roleplay, “house dick” hijinks.
• [17:38] – Trisha’s background and journey to hospitality.
• [18:21] – Her family background revealed (arts vs. medicine).
• [20:12] – Balut and Filipino food challenge discussion.
• [21:14] – Is Conan famous in the Philippines? Local “attraction” riff.
• [22:01] – Dinuguan and pig’s blood stew explored and riffed upon.

Final Notes

This episode is an excellent blend of real-world business challenges, cultural exchange, and classic Conan team goofing around. Listeners who haven’t heard the episode will walk away with:

• A sense of Trisha’s entrepreneurial spirit and unique hotel life in Batangas
• Conan and Matt’s trademark irreverent humor applied to Filipino culture and classic hotel tropes
• An improvised sketch full of hardboiled detective laughs and old Hollywood hospitality
• Playful curiosity about Filipino cuisine, explored through genuine, if grossed-out, reactions

In all, “The House Dick” delivers equal parts heart, hilarity, and improvisational fun—just what Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend fans have come to love.