Debuting in 1993, Late Night with Conan O’Brien witnessed many iconic bits and gas, but arguably the best creation to emerge from the show was Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Puppeteered by Robert Smigel, which made its first appearance in 1997, the cigar-chomping dog is rude and crude to everyone and everything, but most importantly, he’s devastatingly funny.
From attacking Star Wars fans to Bon Jovi, it doesn’t matter who you are, Triumph roasts everyone equally, and unluckily, even the Late Night Host wasn’t immune from his insults.
Conan O’Brien Recalls Being Destroyed by Triumph
Speaking with Jon Bon Jovi, who had firsthand experience of facing Triumph’s insults, Conan O’Brien looks back on being left mentally and physically scarred by the Insult Dog. During one of the episodes of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, the acclaimed host found himself in the crosshairs of Triumph the Insult Dog, who barraged the titular host with insults. And while in the podcast, Conan O’Brien couldn’t stop laughing at the insults, when he got back home and the insults started to set in, he joked about having blood in his urine.
“It’s one of the fans’ favorite remotes is Triumph giving you guys endless amount of sh-ts. He was on the podcast and he spent 15 minutes absolutely ripping me apart and when he was done… I was really laughing hard but when I went home, there was blood in my urine… He attacks and You think you’re having a really good time then you go home and realize ‘Oh my god! he destroyed me.'”
While Jovi was once the victim of the cigar-chomping puppet’s insults, he has nothing but admiration for the iconic creation of Robert Smigel.
We Have Robert Smigel’s Wife to Thank for the Existence of Triumph
We have Robert Smigel’s wife Michelle Saks to thank for the creation of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Speaking with Conan O’Brien, Smigel revealed that he came across the whimsical puppet during his visit to the furniture store with his wife. While he wasn’t the one to buy it, Smigel’s wife bought it for him after he made the puppet sniff her a– at the furniture store, which she found hilarious.
Smigel recalled:
“I have to credit my wife… I found Triumph on this rack of whimsical puppets when we were newlyweds and we were hunting for furniture. I immediately put on one of the dog puppets, (and I) sniffed her ass with it right in the furniture store. And, of course, she found it funny, because she’s the perfect woman for me. Then she surprised me in February, two months later with seven of these puppets. And that gave me the idea for this Westminster thing,”
Despite being a menace, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog remains a staple in The Late Show‘s history, and fans can’t get enough of him hilariously berating others.
