The White House Correspondents’ Association announced this morning that Conan O’Brien will host their annual fancy schmancy dinner this year. It will actually mark Conan’s second appearance as host of the event, with the first coming in 1995, back when people used to walk around town whistling popular hits of the day like “This Is How We Do It” and “Kiss From A Rose,” and thinking to themselves, “Hey, you know who’s definitely not an insane racist? Mel Gibson. Now there’s a guy who has it all together.” A simpler time, to be sure.
Below, please find a clip of Conan’s 1995 performance, in which he looks so, so young. If my math is correct, and it rarely is, he would have been around 32 at the time, and had only been hosting Late Night for about a year and a half. It’s weird to think how much has changed since then, both in the world and for him, personally. He rocketed to fame, hosted the Emmys, landed the Tonight Show gig, had the Tonight Show gig ripped away from him, became an Internet hero, and landed at TBS. And he probably got an iPhone somewhere in there, too. If he wants, I’m sure he could spin some of that into comedic gold this time around. Or, alternatively, he could just plop Puppy Conan down on the lectern and go back to downing complimentary drinks. He’s the professional here. It’s really his call.
