Life moves too fast. I wish I could slow it down.
I've been at NBC for about 6 weeks now. Insane!! Even though I'm getting the gist of the office life at NBC Publicity, I still feel like I've only been interning for a couple of days. Each day is different than the previous one, whether it be good or bad. I'm usually exhausted, but I'm happy. I can only hope I can find a job like this after I graduate because there ain't no goin' back to undergrad (freaks out).
As a summer intern, I am fully aware of my too-short time period as an official NBC employee. As a result, I have been utilizing my wild opportunity to speak to the publicists, hear their stories, receive nuggets of wisdom. The common theme among each story seems to be pure luck: being at the right place at the right time. Since NBC is on a hiring freeze at the moment (and probably will be for a while) I really don't know how good my chances are of receiving a job offer in December (when I graduate). Everyone has been telling me to stay one more semester at UGA (one publicist told me to fail a class just to stay) but I really don't have anymore classes to take, and I am pretty ready to leave Georgia. Even though I love the South and it will always be my home, it's time to move on. I'm going to apply for the NBC page program and see how that goes. All I know is that I have been exposed to the working world in entertainment, and I like what I see.
A couple of weeks ago, I got to attend a live taping of "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien." I take Phil as my +1, as he is the biggest Conando fan I know. We start the day off right by eating lunch at Porto's (YUM) then head off to the studio lot to take an unofficial tour. The lot is pretty ginormous, just a bunch of buildings with sets in them that are collecting dust until the summer hiatus is over. After standing in the VIP queue for an hour (yes, we are that excited), we are escorted to the set, seated 4 rows behind Andy Richter's podium. The set is smaller than what you would imagine since they blow everything up on television, but man, that set is gorgeous. Lights EVERYWHERE. Everything is new, fresh, clean, sparkling. Music is blaring The Ting Tings, The Killers, etc. through the speakers crisply; the speaker quality makes the music sound 10x better. The anticipation is killing Phil and me. We just wanna see ConeBone69 do his thang.
An amateur comedian comes out to warm up the crowd. He goes through standard rules: no random shouting during quiet moments, applaud when the 'Applaud' light comes on, etc. He's not really funny, but he manages to squeeze out a few nervous chuckles from the audience members who were, unfortunately, innocent targets of his hackneyed jokes. He's a good sport, though, and he sets the stage for the band.
The Tonight Show band takes their place and starts playing rowdy swing music to pump up the already enthusiastic crowd. La Bamba and the trumpet player blare their horns into the crowd as they walk through the aisles. People are clapping, smiling, enjoying the music. The energy just keeps building and building; by the time the band ends their pre-routine, it is clear that if the Conan doesn't come out soon, the entire building is going to explode with the palpable excitement in the room.
Suddenly, Andy starts to announce the intro. Guests: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Connolly and musical guest, Andrew Bird. Now: Conan O'Briiiiiien!
The crowd goes nuts. Standing and cheering, I never thought I'd be so star-struck by a pale, 6'4" redhead. Mr. O'Brien just has that quality of a Harvard-educated man who will have a beer with you. And he happens to be so hilarious that he makes my cheeks hurt after a ten minute monologue. The entire show is like a dream, a dream where you step inside your television and experience the magic of live action. It was just awesome being there, watching the host of the Tonight Show making people happy by making them laugh their asses off. We loved every second of it.
After the show, Phil and I drive up to City Walk, where we explore all of the novelty shops and food places next to Universal Studios. We eat dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and wash our meal down with Cinnabon. Healthy? No. Awesome? Yes. Quite a day.
My #1 goal in life: work on "The Tonight Show."
