I Hung Out Backstage at Conan O’Brien

Had fun hanging out backstage at Conan O’Brien yesterday. I spent most of the time in the control room, which looks like NASA mission control, except I’d imagine that at NASA the big row of screens at the front of the room aren’t filled with graphics of George W., Schwarzenegger, and Michael Jackson (or maybe they are). I saw the script being constantly rewritten, then the flashcards being made. After the show I got to wander around on the set, which is unbelievably smaller than it looks on television. Last night I told a friend of mine that I’d been backstage, and she asked if I’d talked to Conan, and I had to admit that I never actually like … saw him. I’d sort of imagined backstage as like a dormitory lounge, but it’s actually a sprawling, labyrinthine network of rooms and hallways, so you’d really have to go searching to see anyone in particular. Though I was standing around in the hallway with musical guest Le Tigre for a bit.