You may have seen the Asian Harry Potter on Conan last week. He's the guy whose Harry Potter costume pretty much stopped Conan O'Brien mid-monologue, due to its awesomeness. It was a pretty fun moment.
Well, with the help of a reader (thanks, John) we have tracked down Asian Harry Potter. He is 27-year-old art student Larry Quach, who is indeed a Harry Potter fan and an even bigger Conan O'Brien fan. He kindly answered a few questions about his crazy encounter with Conan...
Tell us about yourself.Hi! Well, first things first, I have to correct something. I incorrectly told Conan and the rest of America that I was 26. Hey! I was sort of put on the spot okay?! That, and I stopped counting my age after I hit 24. I got a lot of crap from my friends when I came home. Just to correct myself, I'm actually a 27-year-old student that goes to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California working on my second degree. I'm studying Entertainment Design, which is basically concept design / art for the entertainment industry.
I take it you are a pretty big Harry Potter fan.
Yes and no. Back in the days when I went to UC Irvine, my dorm mates and I used to watch the movies every opening night. We used to go to the movies for kicks, not really being fans, but enjoying the absurdity of many of the situations in the first few films. Seeing as how no children really show up to the midnight screenings, we would see these movies and laugh really hard at the screen. It wasn't until the third movie that I realized that this is actually a pretty good series! Good job J.K. Rowling! That's when I picked up the books (by books, I mean audio books) and started reading (listening to) them. I really regretted that because all subsequent movies never lived up to the expectations that I got from the books (audio books).
What is your favorite Harry Potter book/movie? Favorite character?
My favorite is actually The Order of the Phoenix. The one that everyone else seems to hate cause it's the beginning of "Emo Harry." People gotta stop giving him crap, because Voldemort killed that dude from Twilight in book 4. Give him a break okay? I loved The Order of the Phoenix because of the battle at the Ministry of Magic.
As for my favorite character, it has always been Hermione. I fell in love with her character from the very moment she arrogantly corrected the boys on how to say "Wingardium Leviosa." When Emma Watson delivered that line, I thought to myself "Ha ha, what a bitch. I like her." I don't know what the big deal about Harry is. Hard work is always admirable. What did Harry ever do? Boo hoo, my parents are dead. That doesn't make him a better wizard than Hermione. Hermione on the other hand is smart and hardworking. Wait, are we talking about Hermione or Emma?
Are you a big Conan O'Brien fan? How did you get to attend Conan's show?Heck yeah! I was at the CoCo rally a few months back in the pouring rain. I was actually one of the first 40 or so people to arrive. Eventually it ballooned out of control into the thousands! My umbrella broke from the wind, and I felt a cold coming on. Plus I was in the middle of school, which is a big no no for any student attending Art Center, and I could not afford to get sick. After about three hours in the rain my friend and I jammed and took the metro back. Of course, La Bamba and Conan came out 10 minutes after I left. Ha ha. Despite that, I had a blast at the rally hanging out with the hardcore Conan fans. The one thing I miss the most though is Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. I bought both the DVDs, and one of the dozens of people that bought acclaimed CD album.
As for this taping itself, My friend Esther (the girl in the bear suit to the left of me) and her boyfriend to the left of her (sorry guys!) got us tickets. I skipped class that day to go to the taping. I was gonna lie to my teacher later on and say I was sick or something, but I guess I can't use that excuse now since there's evidence all over the internet. =/
What compelled you to dress up like Harry Potter to the taping?
Well, I was going to dress up as Harry Potter anyway, because coincidentally it was the same day as the midnight showing. I had my clothes in the trunk of my car ready for later on that night. My friend Esther wanted to dress up as Masturbating Bear in order to get a hug from Conan. So... I guess to complement her so she wouldn't be the only person to look strange in a getup, I decided to bring my Potter getup just in case. If you take a closer look I got the entire costume all wrong. The colors on that tie don't even exist for any real Hogwarts house. Basically everything was scrambled together from things I've already had lying around. I've dressed up as Harry Potter for every midnight screening for the past several years because I paid a lot for this graduation gown that was only gonna be used once. I figured what a waste, so I put it to good use. Ever since then, I've been known as "Larry Potter" on opening nights.
Did you freak out when Conan started telling his Harry Potter joke?
Ha ha. A bit. I was enthusiastic and I'm naturally loud, but I guess that particular section of the audience saw me walking in as Potter and yelled along with me and started pointing in my direction. What happened from there on out was pretty surreal. Many people asked me if that was planned or rehearsed. I assure you it wasn't. Plus Conan was really nice about it. I don't know why some people out there actually thought he was being mean. I wasn't REALLY disappointed. Not as much as Esther anyway when I stole Conan's hug from her. (I'm sorry!)
So did you watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?
I DID! I went a few hours after the taping. Unfortunately I fell asleep three times. Only thing I really remember was Harry and Hermione ghosts making underage love.
