Now that it's all settled and Conan's last show is tonight... here are some "leave-behinds" for Conan and his staff. (on a side note, I'm very happy that NBC and Conan agreed to some severance pay for the staff... some of those SOBs owe me money...)
Conan Archives
My Visit with Conan (from the year 2-Thousannnnnd!)
Years ago, I spent some time with the then Late Night with Conan O'Brien show!
Conan - the founder of the feast!
Last night's premiere of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien had a lot of video segments which translates to gigs for actors, in particular for improvisers! Last night had a great roster of ex-Chicagoans popping up in the segments:
- Brian Stack (staff writer) did the voice-over radio dj at the very beginning.
- Kevin Dorff (staff writer) was the Amish man.
- Ali Davis was the propietor of Victorian Dolls shoppe.
- Andy Richter returns as the new Announcer!
- Kate Lee was the Hot Girl with Garden Hose.
- Joe Nunez was the Driver of the Rival Bouncing Car.
- TJ Jagodowski & Peter Grosz as the Sonic Guys!
Fun show, great start.
Jason R. Chin
ps- and how can I forget "I'm A Celebrity! Get Me Out of Here!" not only did the NBC reality show have Patti Blagojevich, it had two Chicago Second City veterans! Frangela (Angela Shelton and Frances Collier) is also on the show! (do they both get voted off as one, or separately? I don't know. I only made it through the first 10 minutes.)
For a more in-depth look at both shows, check out Show Patrol!
(Circle! Circle! Circle! Circle! Circle! Circle!)
Favreau-ite Son
I'll be listing all the Chicago Improv alums appearing on Tonight's Tonight Show later tonight, but I just got a message from Jon Favreau! (well, kinda... I follow him on Twitter.) Jon Favreau was not only on several teams at iO, he was a host (seating usher) at the Second City! He'll be (according to his Twitter) "skyping" from the set of Iron Man 2 to talk with Conan! Neat!!
Favreau directing Robert Downey, JR., on the set of "Iron Man."
Improviser Sightings! or My friends are famous
There so many "graduates" of the Chicago improv scene in television and movies nowadays. Here are some of the projects coming from our (collective) alumni!
Away We Go - Catherine O'Hara (she's probably best remembered as the mom in Home Alone, but she is amazing in the largely improvised movie, Best in Show) she plays John Krasinski's mom.
The Hangover - Matt Walsh (UCB in NYC) and Gillian Vigman (I went through iO classes with her!)
My Life in Ruins - Nia Vardalos (whose "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was about about her marriage to fellow Chicago improv alum Ian Gomez) and Rachel (yay!) Dratch are both in this romantic comedy.
Year One - sure, Matt Besser, Horatio Sanz and Harold Ramis are both in this prehistoric movie, but David Pasquesi plays a Prime Minister! If you haven't seen David Pasquesi improvise you really should... when he's not in movies (like Angels & Demons, ) he plays on Wednesdays at iO in "TJ & Dave.)
TV Stuff
Okay, Conan O'Brien. He's technically a veteran of the Chicago Improv and Sketch community (he lived here years ago and roomed with "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Jeff Garlin!) He's on the last Leno (boo) Tonight Show tonight and then opens his Tonight Show (yay!) on Monday!!
And the Conan Tonight Show has an amazing roster of ex-Chicago improv folks on the writing staff! (Of recent note; Brian Stack, who was in the Office finale as a very vocal member of the closed Buffalo Branch.)
This will be updated! Know of a Chicago Improviser making music, shows, plays or movies? Let me know!!
