Thursday, May 11, 2006
By Amanda
Like any Conan fan living in the Chicago area, I was excited to hear that he was going to tape 4 shows in Chicago this May. I sent out the email request for tickets and was impatiently waiting for them to come. Sadly, the week the ticket reservation confirmation emails were sent, I never got one. I didn't want to give up, so I was trying my best to win a Pontiac scratch off ticket. I won one off of eBay for the May 11th show. I was so excited, I called the 312 number to confirm the tickets and left the necessary info. I even went and made myself a t-shirt. Well on that Monday before the Chicago tapings, I got a call on my phone from someone at NBC saying they needed me to call back to verify a few things, but they said to call them by noon, and the message was left on my phone at about 11 am....and I was at school so I didn't get the message until about 2:30. I called anyways and they told me that since I didn't call them back by noon, they weren't sure if there was anything they could do. I felt like I was punched in the stomach. My dad was planning to go to the taping with me. Since both he and I got off of work and school, I suggested we should go to Chicago anyways to try to get standby tickets, especially since I heard that on Tuesday (May 9), everyone in line for standby got in. I go to school in Kenosha, Wisconsin, so I came home Wednesday night. Thursday morning, my dad and I took the train to Chicago, arriving there at about 8 in the morning. While waiting in line for standby, my dad asked if I had the Pontiac ticket, which I did. He then took it and told me he was going to take a walk, so he would be right back. It was a while that he was gone, and when the line started moving sometime before 10, I saw him coming down and he pulled out of his pocket two tickets to the show! I was in shock, and we left the standby line, happy to give two people in line a better chance of getting in. My dad had gone to the NBC building to put up a fight for me. I was so glad that he went with me to Chicago. I know I could have found a friend willing to miss school with me, but even though I knew I deserved to get in, I wouldn't have put up a fight like my dad did.
Since we didn't have to line up again until 2:30, and the Pontiac ticket people were to go in first, we had plenty of time to wander around Chicago. We didn't go too far, mostly staying around a 5 mile radius of the theater. We tried to stay dry most of the time since it started to rain. We probably spent the majority of the time in Borders. We even came back at 2:15 and there was still no one in line yet. The staff member was nice and said that if we came back at 2:50, we would still be able to come in. We came back at 2:40, and there were people in line, but we were still within the first 25 people in line. It was raining and I was getting cold, but I was smiling.
We were brought into the Chicago Theatre, had security check my purse, and waited. We were told not to push and shove. We were guided into our seats, and we were in the fifth row right next to the band. I was sending text messages before I was supposed to turn off my phone. I was jealous of the people who successfully snuck in a camera because I was almost thinking about it, but I didn't want to risk it.
Then the guy who plays Preparation H Raymond (Brian McCann) came out and did a little warm up and they did a little pre recording for the desk drive for Friday's show. Basically it was us waving goodbye. He then told us that they were shitting bricks due to the rain and wondering if there would be any turn out. Then he told us to have a great show and to turn off phones and no pictures because "Conan's albino and the flash will burn him." Then the Max Weinberg 7 came out and played a couple of songs. Pender sang and he was so into it - it was awesome!! The row I was in was next to La Bamba.
Then I saw Joel come out and I knew that the show was starting soon. Oh my god, when Conan came out, it was so surreal because he was right there and not on the TV! And he did his little string dance and started skipping around..... Ah!!!
In the show, La Bamba was dressed as a CTA bus driver, the Fed-Ex Pope came out, Conan showed a clip of a show he and Bob Odenkirk made in 1988 – the “Happy Happy Good Show” (hilarious), the Sears Tower dressed in Sears clothing stage diving, and Conan showing how he and Jeff Garlin went back to their apartment in Wrigleyville. I was watching Conan watch it and I loved seeing his reaction. He acknowledged my “whoos” because I was going whoo and other people were doing it too and he said in a sing song voice "Random whoos." I also shouted "I love you Conan!" but he didn't acknowledge mine, he did for someone else’s. All of that was before the first commercial break.
Usually during the commercial breaks, he would just chat with staff members and prepare for what was coming next while the Max Weinberg 7 played a song.
Conan and Max did a Chicago Small Talk Moment. I seriously don't know how they could keep a straight face. Then Joel was at the Home Alone house and tried to recreate the breaking in scene... lol he got shot....
Then John C. Reilly came out and they did their interview (the pig taken from Lincoln Park Zoo), then he and Conan did a duet (“The Night Chicago Died”)...awesome!!
After that commercial break, the queen of polka lady (Vlasta) performed her song and Conan was dancing along. It was hilarious and I was disappointed watching it on the TV later that night when most of the dancing wasn’t shown on TV. During the commercial break, she played us another song.
During one of the commercial breaks, I tried to get Conan to notice my shirt, but I couldn't get his attention. I was getting cold so I just left my sweatshirt on most of the time. And then during another commercial break (I honestly can't remember which one it was) he started to come up to the audience to shake hands and stuff. I started waving my arm, and he looked towards our side...I honestly think he saw me waving my arm, he then hissed towards us, then came to our side and I GOT TO SHAKE HIS HAND! I honestly don't know how I'm still alive right now. I squeezed really tight, not wanting to let go. I then regretted not showing my shirt, but I was afraid it would look like I was trying to flash him, and I was also mad at myself for not pulling out my paper and sharpie.
Then John Mayer performed "Sweet Home Chicago". Conan then chatted with him and during the break, and John performed another song for us. Then it was the end and he brought out these huge Conan beach balls, sadly none never came near me...
I was still determined to get an autograph. My dad was even trying to get La Bamba's attention, he did but he couldn't get me an autograph since his hands were full, but he did say hi to me.
Conan was already gone and the security guards were forcing people out. My dad and I went to a Walgreens so I could get a camera to take pictures of the theater. I wanted to wait to see if Conan would come out of the theater but we had to catch our train since I had to go back to school. It was still raining, but since it was after the show, I didn't care about getting. It seriously was the best day ever and I would not trade it for anything in the world!