Online Host: Copyright 1997 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved

ANDY RICHTER SHOW 7/15/97

Hubandy: We're here with Andy Richter, sidekick extraordinaire on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," and the only sidekick who is a winner of a Nobel Prize. Andy Richter = ARichter 1. We have a lot of questions...

ARichter 1: Hello everyone!

Question: What's your favorite brand of potato chip?

ARichter 1: My favorite brand of potato chip would probably be Pringles if they, in fact, count as potato chips.

Question: How long do you prepare for a show; like the one where you, Conan, Max and that old dude were at the 4th of July party, so how long in advance do you do a skit or prepare for one?

ARichter 1: It varies from skit to skit. That particular one we shot about a week before. We run reruns on Mondays so that we have that day free to pre-tape comedy bits.

Question: What's your favorite guest you've had on the show?

ARichter 1: First of all, I'd like to forbid anyone from asking that question ever again...no offense to the asker. I would say all in all probably Michael Caine.

Question: Do you, or will you ever host the show if Conan has an "accident?"

ARichter 1: No.

Question: Do you have any heroes or role models?

ARichter 1: I guess Lou Reed, but more artistically than personally because I hear he's kind of jerk. Peter Seller would be one and the writer Delmore Schwartz.

Question: Do any of your audience members bring you gifts?

ARichter 1: Yes, sometimes. Sometimes little handicrafts that have been made in my likeness...or snacks...or babies to kiss.

Question: Your conversations with Conan seem too perfect. Are they rehearsed, and are there cue cards?

ARichter 1: They are completely ad libbed and they "seem" perfect because we ARE perfect.

Question: Do you know if Conan has a screen name? And if he does, can you tell us?

ARichter 1: Conan couldn't get online if he had a gun to his head!

Question: Of all of the skit characters, who is your favorite? Mine is The Gaseous Weiner.

ARichter 1: I would say Slim Organbody.

Question: Hey Andy, what happened to Oldie Olson? Where is he?

ARichter 1: He's still around and he was just on the show two or three days ago. His real name is William Preston and he is veteran of the Armed Services and the Stage.

Question: Do you get tired of dumb questions like this one?

ARichter 1: Of course not! I live to serve my people.

Question: When is your next public service announcement for NBC? When's Max's?

ARichter 1: IF you think that I actually know what's going to be on the show ahead of time, please phone my mother and tell her I'm earning my paycheck.

Question: Andy, you lost a lot of weight. What's your secret?

ARichter 1: Stop eating like a pig and start exercising.

Question: Andy, do you study acting? Have you ever done any acting outside of this?

ARichter 1: I studied improvisational acting which prepares you for just about anything and I've been in a couple movies, numerous stage productions, most recently Incident at "Cobbler's Knob" at the Lincoln Center Festival this past week.

Hubandy: I believe you played a worm in that, no?

ARichter 1: Yes I did! But a SEXY worm.

Question: Do you ever get tired of working as a so called sidekick?

ARichter 1: Yeah, but that's more that I get tired of working.

Question: Andy, I went to a taping once of the show and it seemed like you guys really did have fun. Do you, or is it just a job?

ARichter 1: Depends on what day it is. Sometimes it's a lot of fun, sometimes it's a job but it's always a really excellent job.

Question: Who does the voice of the president and others when you do the TV skits where you super impose someone's mouth?

ARichter 1: Robert Smigel, our original head writer/producer and, most recently, the creator of the TV Funhouse cartoons on SNL.

Question: Are you a frequent web surfer?

ARichter 1: Yeah, I think so.

Question: It seems that your spot segments are the highlight of the show more and more, eh?

ARichter 1: Your syntax has baffled me.

Hubandy: And me.

Question: Any chance that you'll reprise the role you had in "Cabin Boy?"

ARichter 1: No. As much of a chance as "Cabin Boy" will be reprised.

Question: Do you like Max Weinberg's music?

ARichter 1: The band is great. They play too much Springsteen, though. And go buy Jimmy Vivino's (our guitarist) new album.

Question: Are you doing your own typing right now?

ARichter 1: No. There is a special ed. student who stopped making ceramic mobiles to pluck out these belabored messages!

Question: How come you don't take any of our questiions?

ARichter 1: I've been taking questions, not questiions.

Question: Was Triumph the dog your idea? If so, you are a god!

ARichter 1: No. It's not my idea. And I am merely a demi-god.

Question: I loved you in "Thelma and Louise." Any more risk in your acting career in the future?

ARichter 1: No, but plenty of Wisk.

Question: Andy, if I was to ask to be on your show as a guest what would I have to do?

ARichter 1: Something of consequence.

Question: What color are your eyes?

ARichter 1: Blue, as any good Aryan.

Question: I heard that your show is a government conspiracy. Can you present a verifiable argument?

ARichter 1: Please stay on the line. We're running a trace.

Question: When are you guys gonna have Nine Inch Nails on your show? Yea Ha!

ARichter 1: Probably never. They're much too famous for us and besides, sooner or later Trent Resnor is going to admit that he's just been kidding.

Question: How many licks does it take to get to a center of a Tootsie Pop?

ARichter 1: Very funny. Everyone knows I'm a diabetic.

Question: Have you ever met Jenny McCarthy?

ARichter 1: Yes. When she still sounded like a South Side girl.

Question: Are you ticklish?

ARichter 1: Are you the one who's been hiding outside my building with a feather?

Question: Did anything ever go so hideously wrong that the show wasn't able to be aired that night?

ARichter 1: No. Plenty of edits, but never a whole show.

Question: What's the funniest thing that has ever happened while taping a show?

ARichter 1: Well, let me tell you...that's an absolutely impossible question to answer.

Hubandy: Tonight's "Late Night" show features Tom Brokaw, Illeana Douglas, and Leonard Garment.

Question: Andy, are you in any related to the New York Rangers' goalie Mike Richter?

ARichter 1: Not as far as I know. But I am the father of the kid from Free Willie.

Question: Do you ever get star struck?

ARichter 1: Yeah. Around Tony Bennett, James Brown, Michael Caine, David Bowie.

Question: Do you like the new set better than the old one?

ARichter 1: Yes.

Question: Do you like to watch yourself when the show comes on?

ARichter 1: I'm sort of ambivalent about it. I don't watch the show that much when I get home, for the same reason that my stepfather, who was a plumber, never wanted to fix our sink.

Hubandy: Tell us something that will happen on the show tonight. (Just to prove it's really YOU)

ARichter 1: The ghost of Donald O'Connor appears to announce that he's not dead yet.

Question: Andy, boxers or briefs?

ARichter 1: Boxers, if any - heh heh heh.

Question: Hi. Do you like cheese?

ARichter 1: Very much so. I prefer well-aged sheep's milk cheese such as lavirot.

Question: Do you pee standing or sitting?

ARichter 1: If I'm nude, sitting, especially if it's early in the morning or late at night. If I'm dressed, only while accompanying defecation.

Question: What did the kids call you when they were little?

ARichter 1: Andy. Still calls me Baby Andy because one time when I was two, and getting my hair cut, I cried "Don't hurt Baby Andy."

Question: Have you ever fallen asleep during a show?

ARichter 1: Almost.

Question: Andy, please, you must tell us because only you can tell us, is Hubandy a freaky looking person or what?

Hubandy: I think not!

ARichter 1: Not at first, but as the office has warmed up, he's unleashed his vestigial tail.

Question: Would you guys ever have Michael Jackson on the show?

ARichter 1: I hope not. Cause he's too freaky.

Question: Andy: What kind of things you have to perform in order to get Conan to pick you as his sidekick? And how did you meet your wife?

ARichter 1: Those are two questions but oddly, the answer is the same. And it involves a ninja like muscle control. Seriously, I was hired as a writer and I was too hilarious to leave in the back office. And my wife and I did a play together back in 1991.

Question: Have you ever asked Ed McMahon for any hints? And have an dog food companies hit you up? ;-)

ARichter 1: First of all, I hate those little winkie things. Irony and sarcasm should be inherent to the educated reader. And no, and no.

Question: What other jobs have you had before Conan?

ARichter 1: Truck driver, state park employee, mover, waiter, salesman, and production assistant/prop guy on TV commercials.

Question: How much money do you make per show?

ARichter 1: Dad, please stop asking that...you'll get your check.

Question: Where are you from?

ARichter 1: I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Question: I was wondering if its hard to stay up so late?

ARichter 1: Yes, emphatically wondering. Nope.

Question: How does it feel to have all these people reading your thoughts?

ARichter 1: These aren't my thoughts, they're horse**** answers to your well thought out questions.

Question: When are you going to return to Broadway?

ARichter 1: In about half an hour on the cab ride home.

Question: Will you ever do "Andi" again?

ARichter 1: I don't know. It's been talked about but it's hard to go back to something once you haven't done it in awhile.

Hubandy: This question is from a guy named CONAN MAN

Question: Andy, what do you do during commercial breaks?

ARichter 1: Listen to the band. Dig around in the couch for change or stuff. ARichter out there? Go out in the hall to see what's goin' on out there. Go into the green room to see who's in there, or if there are any good snacks, or go into Conan's bathroom and take a leak. Or go get a mint from someone because I like mints and I worry about having fresh breath. But that's about it.

Hubandy: Interesting!

Question: I notice your screen name is ARichter 1. Is there another ARichter out there?

ARichter 1: That's only my "HUB" screen name. My other screen name is a SECRET! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Question: Andy.....Got milk?

ARichter 1: Yeah, but I also got Band-Aids so it's not a problem anymore.

Question: What color are your socks you are wearing?

ARichter 1: I am wearing sandals, because I am Summertime Andy and Summertime Andy likes his feet to breathe.

Hubandy: Unicorn80 asks:

Question: Are you married?

ARichter 1: Yes.

Question: You are the REAL Andy Richter right?

ARichter 1: How dare you think that AOL would try and pull one over on you! They've been there for you when you needed them, and now you accuse them of chicanery.

Question: Andy, do you bite your fingernails?

ARichter 1: No, but my cuticles I bite. How is that for syntax?

Question: Can I get a ticket?

ARichter 1: If you drive fast enough. Seriously, the number is (212) 664-3056. Call them, even if you don't want tickets. I'm sure you're probably lonely.

Question: Andy, will you be my friend?

ARichter 1: Nice try, Dad. I said you'll get your check!

Question: Andy, I love your show, my name is Dan. What movies have you been in?? I would love to check them out at a movie store

ARichter 1: I had a small part in an HBO movie called "The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader Murdering Mom." Starring Holly Hunter, and it's a great movie and she's amazing in it! And then "Cabin Boy" starring Chris Elliot.

Hubandy: DaveTN14 asks you:

Question: Hi. Where's the bathroom?

ARichter 1: You're in it.

Question: Do you like ska music?

ARichter 1: Yeah.

Question: Why do all the stupid questions get through and not mine?

ARichter 1: Because you're cursed.

Question: true or false: I need a life?

ARichter 1: I would venture to say that we all do.

Question: Do you eat at the commissary?

ARichter 1: Yes. Well, I get food there and I take it back to my office and huddle over it in a corner, and growl.

Question: When is your "sister" Stacy gonna be on next?

ARichter 1: Soon! Soon, little one! Soon.

Question: You are a stud Andy, how do you handle it?

ARichter 1: With tongs.

Question: I hear you mention wasting time on the computer a lot. Where do
you go on the Internet?

ARichter 1: Where else....the naked celebrity sites. Know of any good ones? I'm sick of looking at Tiffani Amber-Theissen in that mesh top.

Question: Can I have an autographed picture of you please?!!! Can I have an autographed picture of you please?!!! Can I have an autographed picture of you please?!!! Can I have an autographed picture of you please?!!! Can I have an autographed picture of you please?!!!

ARichter 1: No.

Question: What is your favorite movie, Sir Andy?

ARichter 1: "Night of the Hunter." "It's a Gift." "Wizard of Oz" John Carpenter's "The Thing." "The Evil Dead." "The Vanishing" (the original Belgian version) and some various titles from my own personal vintage Super 8 collection, including "Helga Takes a Pause"

Question: Are you allergic to anything?

ARichter 1: Different molds, maple trees, the stuff they shoot into you when they give you a CAT scan and regular lawn grass.

Question: Have you ever been assaulted by a preacher or other religious figure of some sort?

ARichter 1: Who hasn't?

Question: Ever thought about becoming vegetarian?

ARichter 1: No. Meat is to eat.

Question: Would you have gone to the prom with me?

ARichter 1: What, if I hadn't been in that car crash? Shiela, please, move on!

Question: Are you guys ever gonna bring back those big foam-rubber dolls of you and Conan that you covered the pres. election with?

ARichter 1: Maybe. They're still in the closet.

Question: Hi. Andy, what do you think about Tyson's biting habits?

ARichter 1: I really don't care. Other than it makes my co-workers happy by giving us something to write jokes about.

Question: What is your honest opinion on the Cuban missile crisis effect on today's American society?

ARichter 1: In one sense, good that a covert action went desperately wrong so that covert actions were forced out into the light of day. But on the other hand, the debacle pushed a lot of moles underground and gave the military industrial complex a chip in its shoulder which they have been trying to get rid of to this very day. Now don't forget to read Chapter 3 and please return my thermos.

Hubandy: We have time for 1 or 2 more...

Question: Is tonight's show going to be a rerun?

ARichter 1: No. God willing!

Question: Do you think you'd ever sing karaoke on the show?

ARichter 1: I think I have but I can't be sure.

Hubandy: Last question tonight...

Question: Andy, have you ever killed anybody, if not, have you ever wanted to?

ARichter 1: I've been asked this before, and you lousy cops will never get me! I got the HUB so packed with guns and canned food that you'll never get me out of here you dirty bastard screws!

Hubandy: That'll tell 'em. Thanks, Andy Richter! And thanks to all of you for coming.

ARichter 1: Good night, my cyber-friends. Go talk to your families...you just might enjoy it.

Hubandy: Good night all. GO HOME! Andy left

Copyright 1997 America Online, Inc.

========================
More about this Event:

07/15 "Late Night's" Andy Richter (Odeon)

Actor, writer and comedian Andy Richter has the best seat in the house on NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." He has been the sidekick of host Conan O'Brien since the show's premiere on September 13, 1993.

Over the first three seasons of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," viewers and critics alike have come to recognize that Richter, in the words of TV Guide, is "more than just a sidekick -- he's a second banana with appeal all his own." He ad-libs with O'Brien, takes part in conversations with guests, often performs in comedy bits, and periodically acts as the show's comedic correspondent off the set. He has taped remote comedy segments at the MTV Awards, Woodstock, a Kiss convention, New York's Fulton Fish Market and many other locales. His recurring comedy bits include hosting his own "daytime talk show," called "Andi," and he has portrayed many people in the news -- including both Elizabeth Taylor and Larry Fortensky in the same sketch.

Before making his network-television debut on "Late Night," Richter portrayed Mike Brady in the New York and Los Angeles stage productions of "The Real Live Brady Bunch." He has also performed with various Chicago-based improvisational groups. His credits include Annoyance Theater, Gambrinus King of Beer, Comedy Underground, and Improvolympia. He studied improvisation in Chicago under the direction of Del Close and Mick Napier. In February 1993, Richter appeared in Chris Elliott's feature film, "Cabin Boy."

Richter attended the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign and Columbia College in Chicago, where he studied film and video. He was born in Grand Rapids, Mich., and grew up in Yorkville, Ill.

Richter lives in New York with his wife, Sarah.


---[Bio]---[Images]---[Stuff]---[Media]---[Links]---