When I was in Southern California recently, I had the opportunity to be in the audience of the Conan O’Brien show with my brother-in-law Brandon. My wife applied to get us tickets online when they became available and were quite happy when we ended up getting them. Along with the notice that we were going to be able to see the show were instructions that we were not going to be allowed to have our mobile phones with us during the taping. Since we were being essentially dropped off at the studio a couple of hours before the taping, we would have to relinquish the phones to our loved ones who would be driving around Los Angeles.

As we went into the waiting area we were searched for any weapons or other things not permitted into the studio and, naturally, they found nothing. The only thing each of us had with us was our wallets. As we sat down and looked around, it seemed clear that we were the only ones who paid any attention to the “no mobile phone” rule — everyone else had theirs with them!

At first, we both made jokes about how we would have nothing to do since we didn’t have our phones and we didn’t bring either books or portable game systems of any sort. I then pointed out that we would have to do what people did before they had mobile phones to distract them and actually be with each other — in the present.

The other thing about not having the mobile phone with you is that it is completely impossible for someone to call you on your mobile phone if you don’t have it with you. It’s not possible to reach you by text message, e-mail, and you can’t see what is new on Twitter or Facebook. Rather, all you have is the direct world around you.

We spent the next two hours talking about whatever came to mind. Since we had no phones and nothing else to distract us from actually being there in each others’ presence, we had to either sit and do nothing or sit and talk. We decided that we were going to talk and get to know each other just a little bit better. It was actually a fantastic two hours. In some ways the two hours before the show were more significant than the show itself.

The only downside to all this came after the show ended and we needed to get picked up. We hadn’t specified what time the show would end since we weren’t sure. I suggested that we ask anyone else there since they all had their mobile phones but Brandon wisely suggested that we use the phone at the security desk in the garage to contact my wife and his parents. It wasn’t too long before they picked us up and we had gotten a great opportunity to enjoy a bubble of technology free bliss.

7 Comments

  1. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
    David W. Boles says:

    Fun article, Gordon! I can’t believe they try to ban cellphones at the show!

    1. Not too unbelievable, really — how annoying would it be to have a phone start ringing during the taping? Rather than ask people to turn them off (and hope for the best) they tell people not to bring them at all and then hope that those that choose to still bring them will know enough not to get caught with one ringing.

      1. David Boles – New York City – David Boles was born in Nebraska and holds an MFA from the Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theatre Studies at Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an author, dramatist, editor, publisher, and teacher who writes across the live stage, print, radio, television, film, and the web. With more than 50 books in print, David continues to write 2MM words a year and has authored over 25K articles. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Authors Guild, and PEN America, and founded The United Stage advocacy platform on the principle that playwrights have a duty to direct their own work. Read the Prairie Voice Archive at Boles.com | Buy his books at David Boles Books Writing & Publishing at BolesBooks.com | Study with Script Professor at ScriptProfessor.com | Touch American Sign Language mastery at Hardcore ASL at HardcoreASL.com | Explore the Human Meme podcast at HumanMeme.com | Train with Boles Bells at BolesBells.com.
        David W. Boles says:

        Did you see the Conan police confiscating any phones? Did any phones ring during the show?

        1. No confiscation. I am pretty sure it is just a policy there to discourage people from bringing phones. Didn’t hear any phone ring — the policy must work! 🙂

    1. As we sat down and looked around, it seemed clear that we were the only ones who paid any attention to the “no mobile phone” rule — everyone else had theirs with them!

      So yeah… we were the only newbies who didn’t have a phone. They let them in and then tell you to put it on silent during the recording.

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