Q & A with Eric Wielochowski (@wieloco)
Eric Wielochowski wearing the AKP orange sunglasses. Photo by Kevin Doellman.
As part of the Team Coco production staff, what is your specific role?
‘At Conan my role is Cue Cards/Writer’s Assistant. Basically I help facilitate the writing process and performance of the show. Every morning two other fine gentlemen and I write up all the scripts for rehearsal. The scripts include sketches, monologue jokes, guest intros, VT’s, talent bullets, pre-shoots, remotes, guest segments, band lyrics etc. After rehearsal, we help in whittling these scripts down to the select few we bring to show, re-writing these re-edited scripts onto card, and making sure the performers and writers are comfortable with the content. Once we go to air I direct talents’ eye-lines and assist in creating the continuity of the show based on our time constraints.’
‘I always thought the expression “I laughed so hard I fell out of my chair” was something people said to over hype the hilarity of a situation. This is the first time in my life I actually experienced people falling out of their chairs laughing. We had 3.500 people in The Chicago Theater for each of our shows and collectively I’ve never heard a group of people laugh harder in my life. Witnessing the sheer joy on people’s faces as they watched it live is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. The way people reacted was very validating and truly something we were proud to be a part of.’
‘When I had down in Chicago I did what any person on a work trip with 100 of their co-workers would do in Chicago; ate like sh** and drank too much. However, outside of that I performed in and watched some great improv shows around the city, took a sailboat onto Lake Michigan, watched our Conan writer’s kill it at the Laugh Factory, and explored the beautiful and historic Chicago Theater. I also got to meet up with some great old friends and meet some awesome new ones along the way.’
‘We’re still waiting on Perry Farrell to invite us all out for drinks and a private Jane’s Addiction concert before we make any decisions.’
‘The hardest part would be the loading and unloading of the show. A lot of work goes into it by a lot of people more greatly skilled than I in the tireless effort to meet deadlines. We’re already doing a new episode of Conan right away on Monday in LA. That leaves three days for our crew to drive across the country and unload all of our gear by Monday morning. Those guys are tough as nails. Much respect goes out to them.’
‘The best part of my job is the fact that I LOVE my job. There is never a morning I wake up and not want to go to work. I am living a dream everyday. To be able to laugh as much as we do and work with such incredibly talented and hilarious people is a true blessing. Wanting to become a writer and everyday learning from the best in the business on how to become a great one is an amazing feeling. Not going to lie, it was pretty cool going from a fan of the show for so many years to a part of the whole helping to create it.’
‘Because they have the responsibility of compensating for the non-awesomeness of Carrot Top.’
‘Seriously everyone must follow The Iron Shiek, @the_ironsheik, former Iranian WWF champion from the 1980’s and 90’s. He makes absurd and hilarious observations with broken English and I die laughing 80% of the time.
Ex.) RT @the_ironsheik The chris bosh is like if the colonel sanders f*** the guy from the green mile.’
Chicago Theatre crowd for Conan. Photo by Eric Wielochowski.
FUN FACTS:
- Eric is a classically trained bass player.
- Eric helped develop Deon Cole’s Black Box, which just got picked up by TBS for six episodes in December.
- He is a performer at Improv Olympic West and The Second City LA.
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin is Eric’s hometown.
CATCH ERIC LIVE:
- July 21st @9:30 at The Second City LA with my improv group Daddy Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
- Tune in to Conan Monday-Thursday nights on TBS at 10:00 Central.
- Photo and interview by Kevin Doellman, Ayo Kdoe Productions
