The Show and Me

Alright! We've reached the last of one side of the under-the-bed. Keen observers will see that there is in fact more under there that I have yet to discuss, but those boxes are full of personal/financial-type documents that I will, shocker, not be sharing on my blog.

This plastic container is full of every document I have that relates to "The Show." I've discussed some of this before, but in the summer between my junior and senior year, I began watching Conan. I don't even remember how I came upon that red-haired man, but suddenly there were many nights where I stayed up 'til 1:30AM or taped the show. Probably taped more often - I did work at a preschool at the time. But come August, it was quite apparent - I had to have my own show. My two best friends were in agreement, and wanted to be a part of it. One of them had interned at our local cable access station, and knew that getting a show was plausible. But we were so determined, we would have just done it in my living room if having our own half hour of local access wasn't possible.

But, lo and behold, I was given the time slot. And so in November, we shot our first show. The format followed Conan's - opening, monologue, first sketch, first guest, second sketch, second guest. We had a house band - namely, a fellow Conan-lover friend of mine. My co-host was one of my best friends, the other directed the show. I produced, and wrote and was the host. Some of the sketches were roll-ins (pre-taped bits), some were in-studio. Our audience was my mom and our friends - that is, the ones that weren't operating cameras.

We did ten shows before the following fall, when I (and several others) left for college. The following summer we did two more. The shows still exist as video tapes and a few video files my mom converted.

The way I accomplished having a show and taking AP classes in my senior year of college and working as a nanny after school four days a week was - well, I think I had a lot of energy. The show was taped (live) once a month, and so I would spend the two weeks leading up to it working on the scripts, and the roll-ins, getting guests, and writing monologues. During this time, I would generally neglect all long-term homework. Then for the two weeks after we taped a show, I would catch up on my school work again. I did this until the summer, when I was only working as a nanny.

Would I do it all over again? Oh yes. A thousand times yes. I would now, even, but the cast and crew are so spread out, it's impossible. And with the Internet expanding, everyone can (and, it seems like, does) have their own show. But this was back when cameras weren't on everyone's phones (which no one had anyway) and having one's own show was novel. I miss it. In many ways, it reflected, and made me, who I am today.