Conan O' Brien came to Chicago for a week of shows. Me and Alex have been talking about seeing Conan live for 8 years. Now that he was in our own backyard, this was our chance...

Friday
4:00am - Alarm goes off. Me and Alex wake up.
4:25am - Hit the road.
4:35am - Pick up Dunkin Donuts.
4:45am - Pick up Brad, the only other one crazy enough to stand outside in the rain in hopes of seeing Conan.
5:30am - Arrive at the Chicago Theatre. Find parking.
5:40am - After some initial confusion, track down the line for standby tickets across the street along the Potbelly's Sandwich place.
5:41am - Greeted by 12 fellow Conan fans who were already in line.
5:42am - Staked out an excellent spot underneath the Potbelly's awning. Provides perfect shelter from the rain, no umbrellas required.
5:45am - Befriend the guy in line next to us.
5:46am - Realize that the guy is obnoxious (hereafter referred to as "Obnoxious Guy") and rather annoying.
6:30am - Busted out the travel Connect Four. The games got so heated that they attracted a small crowd. Bets were made. Brad dominated and Obnoxious guy won 10 bucks.
7:00am - The sidewalks begin to fill with morning commuters. People watching becomes the focus of our activities.
7:10am - Discover that Obnoxious Guy has a large bottle of Jack Daniels that he his spiking his soda with. His reason for obnoxiousness becomes apparant.
7:30am - Take a break from the line and walk around the corner to check out the new ABC 7 studio which you can view from the street. Watched the morning show girl do the weather.
7:40am - Obnoxious Guy begins to heckle pedestrians, saying things like "Can I get a hoo-ha for Conan?!" and "Damn girl, you're looking good today!" Attempted to get high fives (he got some) and attempted to get girls phone numbers (he got none).
8:30am - Standby line filling rapidly. Security is beefed up around the area. Line is roped off by cones and yellow tape. A "Conan Standby Line" sign is finally displayed so hopefully people passing would stop asking what we were in line for.
8:45am - Talked to the very first guy in line. Said he got here at 2am.
8:55am - Obnoxious Guy getting out of control. A female cop threatened to take him out of line if he didn't calm down. He was quiet from then on.
9:10am - Ran into a random guy that I met at a party when I was down at WIU a few weeks ago. He was also waiting for Conan.
9:20am - Took a walk to the McDonalds for a bathroom break. The line now had hundreds of people in it, wrapped around the block.
10:00am - The Chicago Theatre people started giving out standby tickets. We were now guaranteed a seat!
10:05am - We were lead to another line for people who had actual tickets. It was on the other side of the street. It was actually more of a corral than a line. But at least we were close to the front of the corral. The downside was that we had to leave the shelter of our awning, so now we were subject to rain and wind. I curled up on my lawn chair underneath my umbrella to shelter myself from the elements.
11:30am - Me and Alex took a walk back to the car to drop off the cooler that we had brought. The thought of drinking a cold beverage on such a day was unappealing.
11:40am - Walking past the Chicago Theatre entrance, there was a familiar face standing in an alcove talking on a cell phone. It was Andy Richter. We were amazed that he was just standing there by himself. We wanted to talk to him and get a picture, but he looked quite busy.
12:00pm - Decided that we would leave the line one at a time to get lunch from the Potbelly's. I went first. I got some nice hot soup and a warm sandwich. It was nice to sit inside for a while.
12:35pm - Returning back from lunch, I noticed that Uno's Pizzaria had set up a table next to the line. There was talk of them giving away free pizza. It figures...right after I just bought my lunch.
12:45pm - Pizzas are brought out by the cart-load. But they aren't served, they just sit on the table, as if they are waiting for something to happen...
1:00pm - The man himself, Conan O' Brien, comes rushing out of the Chicago Theatre with an entourage of security people and cameramen. He jumps up on a cement wall with a bull horn. "How's it goin my babies?" He greeted everyone, shook hands, signed autographs, and announced that he was giving us all free Uno's pizza. I got some great pictures. I also got some great pizza.
1:25pm - People behind us continually push forward in line, leaving no room for our chairs. We take them back to the car.
1:35pm - Some guy in line proclaims to the crowd that he was the one who bought the pizzas for everyone. No one believes him.
1:45pm - The same guy buys an entire box of peanut M&M's off a street vendor. (Hereafter referred to as M&M guy)
1:50pm - M&M guy tries to be like Conan and give away free food. Most people just think he's a douchebag.
1:51pm - M&M guy starts throwing packs of M&M's up in the air. Some of them are caught by people. Some of them end up on the EL tracks. One guy was so brave as to throw a pack of M&M's back at the guy, which received positive reception from the crowd.
2:05pm - M&M guy throws M&M's into oncoming traffic.
2:06pm - Cops pull M&M guy out of line.
2:07pm - Crowd voices their opinion on what should happen to M&M guy.
2:08pm - M&M guy is escorted away.
2:15pm - A juggler dressed in a chef's cap and a bow tie juggles plungers for the crowd.
2:25pm - A crazy street performer sees an opportunity to play for a crowd. He jumps around on the sidewalk, plays guitar and sings 80's songs.
2:30pm - The guitar guy's performance is enhanced when the crowd control guy lets him sing into his bull horn.
3:00pm - The line is packed. We have been standing for hours. Our feet are numb. A constant mist falls on our faces. Strong, cold wind gusts permeate the wall of people. Me, Alex, and Brad stood silent. Our bodies went into survival mode.
3:30pm - After standing outside for nearly 10 hours, it is finally time to enter the Chicago Theatre. Madness ensues. People start jaywalking across the street. Just as we are about to cross, some guys yell at us and say to go around to the crosswalk. This results in 50 or 60 people getting ahead of us. So our seats could have been better (it was general admission). But we get to sit center stage, 15 rows back. A lot better than I expected going into this. Sitting down in those chairs, I feel like I had just won a battle. It was so rough waiting out in that weather. But the result is worth it.
4:25pm - The guy who plays Preparation H Raymond comes out on stage and warms up the crowd with some jokes. The Max Weinberg 7 plays some songs and gets everyone going.
4:30pm - Show taping begins. Joel comes out to a mic and announces the show. The crowd goes crazy.

The show was great. I could have hung out there all day and watched 10 shows in a row if I could. The guests were Senator Barack Obama and the band Wilco. It featured special guest Andy Richter whom was invited to drive the desk around Chicago with Conan. La Bamba was dressed up as the Empire Carpet guy. The "Wheel of Wendt" was spun, and George Wendt had to give Chewbacca a massage. There was another edition of "Chicago Small Talk Moment". And there was a visit by Sears Tower in Sears clothing.

The experience of seeing the show live was so much greater than seeing it on TV. It was a long journey, but well worth the wait.

For more pictures from this event go here.