California Coasting :: Conan & Premieres

Monday, we had tickets to Conan. The Conan Show was one of the few things we had planned in advance, getting our tickets over a month before the trip. We got to Burbank early and grabbed lunch at The SmokeHouse, begrudgingly succumbing to the waitress' demands to order the "World's Greatest Garlic bread" - if you're a fan of dusty nacho cheese topping then you're in luck... If not, well she's staring at you while you eat it so you had better smile. The portions were massive so we killed enough time and headed to Gate 8 for holding. 

As our previous experience with live tapings were for podcasts and comedy shows, essentially held in basements with fold out chair seating and fend-for-yourself security, we weren't sure what to expect. It was very all very well organized, with a lot of waiting, a strict no cell phone policy - which was fine because I did not need to be tempted to instgram myself into a data debt vortex. Walking through the lot was fun (everyone on 2 Broke Girls seems to have Porsche Cayenne. but who cares, Kat Dennings is wonderful) and the show itself was great! Our main guest was Patton Oswalt, which worked out perfectly since we missed seeing him while we were in San Francisco. 

That night we accompanied our friends, and lovely hosts, to the Children's Hospital and NTSF:SD:SUV belated premiere. It was pretty exciting! Not only because of the obvious but also because we absolutely love both shows, along with Burning Love and most anything else these folks seem to have their fingers in. There was popcorn, soda, and speeches before showing an episode of each and both finales. The event continued afterwards with cocktails, finger foods and lots of chatting. More than anything this event made me want to stay in LA and work on projects with all of these clearly creative and talented people. Honestly, can one take a vacation to go work?

I have to admit, although we saw a lot of people we admire we stayed shy and didn't approach anyone. I'm never sure if it's nice of me to respect people's space or silly of me to not take the chance when I have it. If I had been bolder though I would have definitely told Casey Wilson how much I love her and would like to listen to all her stories, June Diane Raphael that she's stolen my heart and has killer legs, Will Forte that MacGruber is legitimately funny, Jerry Minor that he was great in Delocated, Ken Marino that Ron made me cry on a weekly basis, Jon Hamm to shave and that it's sweet he eats popcorn like Cookie Monster eats cookies, Paul Scheer that I don't think Andre deserves that abuse. Jack would have told David Wain that he's loved him since before Stella, Brett Gelman that he is the BIGGEST fan of Eagleheart and then he would have rounded up the cast of The State (who were there) for a big group hug. 

...so if you any of them, pass that along, okay?