‘CONNORSversations’ keeps the late-night talk show alive in Spokane

After years of writing for, and sometimes performing on, “Lilac City Live,” Spokane Public Library’s late-night talk show, Riley Connors picked up more than a few tips and tricks.

As “Lilac City Live” was preparing to end after one final episode earlier this year, Connors began thinking of how he could put his own spin on the talk show format. Connors didn’t necessarily want to do something edgier, but he also didn’t mind if things went off the rails from time to time.

What he came up with was “CONNORSversations,” a late-night talk show he puts somewhere between late night Conan O’Brien and “The Eric Andre Show.” The show features interviews, live music, characters, live segments and, really, anything else he can think of.

The way Connors sees it, Ryan Tucker, who helmed “Lilac City Live” for years, is the Jimmy Fallon to his Stephen Colbert.

“It doesn’t hurt to have two people doing slightly different things, but now we’re, to the best of my knowledge, the only late-night talk show in the Inland Northwest,” Connors said. “Now that we’re picking up steam, it’s a very unique experience. We hope to bear that weight of responsibility and make something really exciting for people, something people can actually tell their friends about without feeling embarrassed.”

The second episode of “CONNORSversations” is Friday at the Chameleon.

Once Connors decided to move forward with “CONNORSversations,” he reached out to friends, like co-creator, writer, director and editor James Dunfey-Ehrenberg and writers and performers Adam Swensen, Annica Eagle and Casey Strain, as well as people he didn’t know personally, like writer/performer Wilma Louise Dargen, but knew were funny and asked if they’d help with the show.

“Really, what it was was elite talent poaching of the comedy scene,” Connors said.

He asked Jáiz Boyd to design the set, “Spokast” host Brennon Poynor to executive produce and Darby Meegan, aka DJ Spicy Ketchup, to be his sideman. The cast and crew of “CONNORSversations” also includes writers and performers David Leong and Jake Sanders, production assistant Aidan Biviano and technical operator Thomas Walters.

“It grew from there, then the writers room came next,” Connors said. “We approach it very professionally, notecards, writes, rewrites, et cetera, and then from there it was convincing the Chameleon.”

Connors realizes it would have been easy for the Chameleon team to say no to a new project from someone who was typically behind the scenes, but they took a chance on him and “CONNORSversations” and have been supportive from the beginning.

The first episode of “CONNORSversations” featured guests Spokane City Council member Paul Dillon, Luke Baumgarten, founder of Range Media, and music from the Bed Heads.

There was a bump or two along the way, but overall, the audience was onboard with Connors as a host and the show as a whole. Connors said his monologue, during which he made up a fake backstory for himself that included “facts” like “I’m Air Bud’s half-brother,” “I was in ‘Home Alone’ ” and “I was a stand-in for Hannah Montana” was a good litmus test.

“It went extremely well,” he said. “It went better than any of us were expecting. I had plenty of friends and family there, and it’s the most backhanded compliment, but they were like ‘Well, that was a lot more professional than I thought it would be.’ ”

About two weeks after the first episode, Connors began thinking about the second. This episode is holiday-themed, spanning from Halloween to the winter holidays.

He’ll welcome paranormal investigator Amanda D. Paulson (Halloween) and Spokane Arts Program Director Devonte Pearson (Thanksgiving) to the stage, as well as live music from hip-hop/punk duo BLXCKPUNKS.

For the winter holidays, Connors will host a Charlie Rose-style panel. Eagle will play the sun during the winter solstice, Alden Winters will play a man who accidentally killed Tim Allen and now has to become Santa Claus, and Dunfey-Ehrenberg, who is Jewish, as is Connors, will play a Jewish man.

For his part, Connors will approach the panel as if it’s all business as usual.

After the second episode of “CONNORSversations,” Connors plans to take a longer break from the quarterly show to get ready for the third episode. By that time, he imagines he and the team will have the bugs worked out.

He has a few dream guests in mind, including musician Allen Stone and Mayor Lisa Brown, but is ultimately looking for guests that show love for Spokane and audience members who give that love right back.

“I say our mission statement is ‘We’re local, DIY. We’re dangerous as hell. You never know what you’re going to get with our show,’ ” he said. “We like to have a diverse crew behind the scenes, racially and gender-wise, and we like to attract … the broadest possible audience, to expose them to a new type of comedy.”

Talk shows have been done before, Connors said, but having one in a place that’s not a “name brand city” makes things exciting.

“It’s full of opportunity,” he said. “We’ll see where it goes.”