Winnetka Native Sues Conan O'Brien, Claims Comic Stole His Jokes

Winnetka native and freelance comedy writer Alex Kaseberg is claiming Conan O’Brien stole his jokes in a recently filed lawsuit.

Kaseberg - a 1976 graduate of New Trier High School and longtime comedy contributor on TV and in print - says the famous late-night comedian used four of his jokes or variations of them in monologues after they had been posted on his blog and Twitter account.

“A Delta flight this week took off from Cleveland to New York with just two passengers. And they fought over control of the armrest the entire flight.”

That’s what is claimed to have been posted to Kaseberg’s blog on Jan. 14, but the similar one-liner “On Monday, a Delta flight from Cleveland to New York took off with just 2 passengers. Yet somehow, they spent the whole flight fighting over the armrest” is attributed to O’Brien on his show’s Team Coco website.

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Other jokes mentioned in the suit - which names O’Brien, his company Conaco, TBS, Time Warner and two “Conan” staff members - targeted New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s Super Bowl win, Caitlyn Jenner’s transition and the Washington Monument suffering from “shrinkage” in the winter.

Kaseberg, a resident of San Diego for 29 years, filed the lawsuit in a California federal court and seeks $600,000 and a jury trial. His attorney said Conan’s team was “not responsive” to their requests to discuss the matter before the lawsuit.

Kaseberg has declined news media interviews, but did speak to The Times of San Diego, saying he worked for Shearson Lehman and worked for a few years on Wall Street as a bond trader for Hilliard Farber and Co.

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A “Conan” spokesman said O’Brien’s team “firmly believes there is no merit to this lawsuit.”