"O'Brien's guest, the comedian Eric André, sits down and grabs a microphone from the host's desk. "Is this my microphone?" André asks, while trying to figure out a way to attach the desk mike to his shirt. Then he retches and picks up a nearby coffee mug. "What's in here, oatmeal?" he asks. For anybody familiar with André's comedy, which relies on the shocking and the absurd, all of this makes sense."
"I'd always assumed this was a pre-planned shtick, but Vivino recently assured me that it had been spontaneous. "It wasn't like Eric said to me backstage, 'We're gonna do this,' " he explained. "Every single person in that band was also a bandleader, so they pay attention one hundred per cent of the time, knowing that at any time it could be them." André's stunt demonstrated the comedic possibilities of having a group of skilled and alert performers on the payroll."
A 2012 Conan episode captured comedian Eric André improvising on-air, grabbing the host's microphone, retching into a coffee mug and cueing the band with escalating commands that culminated in an exaggerated demand for "one hundred times." The Basic Cable Band responded in real time, executing multiple horn hits before being waved off. Bandleader Jimmy Vivino later confirmed the moment was spontaneous and credited the musicians' professionalism and alertness, noting that each member was also a bandleader. Late-night television budgets have contracted, and musicians have been early casualties of cost-cutting; in 2019 Conan was shortened to a half-hour and Vivino's band was removed.
Read at The New Yorker
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