Conan O'Brien (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
You come out of nowhere as a writer.
Land your own TV talk comedy show.
Get another big show
Lose it when the star wants it back
And then you hit the road and try your own show.
Which is a hit.*
“So your career has had this strange mix of complete stardom and rejection mixed in,” Terry Gross of NPR’s Fresh Air summarizes for her guest Conan O’Brien. “I just think psychologically, that must really be like a roller coaster.”
Ups and downs certainly. And what we learn from O’Brien’s show business career—34 years and counting—is that challenging yourself is what makes the difference. Conan O’Brien has recently trimmed his TBS comedy talk show to a half-hour and now doing a second season of podcasts featuring interviews with fellow entertainers as well as others he finds interesting.
What grounds O’Brien is his craft. He likes comedy that is “evergreen,” which he defines as something that you don’t have follow to the news to understand.
For example, says O’Brien, “Think of a Warner Brothers cartoon. You can watch it today…. maybe it was made in 1948… Whether it's Bugs Bunny or Coyote Road Runner, you're watching one. And it's just the timing and the simplicity of the ideas but the beauty of the execution.”
Why the change? “I got to a phase where I thought I don't - what I don't want to do is sleepwalk my way through my career at this stage,” says O’Brien. “I can do this for a bunch of years, and then, you know, sort of fade off into the sunlight.”
But O’Brien, like many performers, has an element of risk-taking in him. “There's another way to go, which is scare yourself and try to be - rather than be intimidated and afraid as a lot of middle-aged people are by everything that's changing—choose to be excited by it.”
For some, doing what you are doing is just fine. Yet for those who don’t want to ride into the sunset just yet consider doing this. Look at where you are in your career and what you want to accomplish next. But if change is in order, then look what you would like to do differently. So, do what you might do if starting your career. Inventory your skills. Consider your talents. And look for new places to apply them.
Knowing your craft is essential to planning your next move. For some, it might mean working in the same discipline—finance, design, marketing—for a different organization. In this way, you leverage what you do well in an environment that challenges you as you learn a new business.
For others, it will mean moving into another discipline, something new and completely different. This choice entails risk, but for those who like challenges, it can be what is necessary.
There is no tried and true method of making a personal change. It falls to the individual to make a choice. Oh, and if Conan O'Brien is any inspiration, have some laughs along the way.
*Adapted from comments Terry Gross used to introduce Conan O’Brien.
