You may have read or heard about (or maybe you saw it live) the on-camera accident last week in which “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien suffered a mild concussion.  He had to stop taping the show, then he was taken to the hospital for observation after slipping on the floor while taping a scene with Teri Hatcher.

He also couldn’t think or see or read straight–he said his cue card looked like “a menu for an Egyptian restaurant.” 

But last night, he was back on the air, talking about what happened and striking what to me was the perfect balance between joking about what happened and expressing gratitude for his rapid recovery and for the support system that got him through it.  We all have our own ways of processing scary close-calls and other upsetting things that happen.  Keeping it light, trying to find the absurdity inside whatever freaky thing is going on, is one of the best ways to do that processing work.  But only mostly–gratitude is a crucial part of the equation as well, and Conan hit both notes right on.  We’re glad he’s ok. 

How do you handle scary close calls?

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