Comedian Orlando Baxter has been keeping busy. The Worcester native has been on the road constantly, headlining clubs and college shows, and has toured extensively abroad, including a month-long stint at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and dates in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Norway.

But now he's set his sights on new territory: television. And he's starting with the late-night show hosted by fellow Massachusetts native Conan O'Brien, making his TV debut on the Oct. 24 episode of "Conan," airing at 11 p.m. on TBS.



"I've always wanted to do a late-night spot, like most comics," explains Baxter, "and I was touring with (comedian) Whitney Cummings, and Whitney kept asking me, 'Why aren’t you on late night?' I said, ' 'Cause it’s hard, it's hard to get on, I don't know anyone.' "



Thankfully, Cummings did. She ended up sending a video of Baxter performing to "Conan" producer and booker for stand up comedy JP Buck, who called her to say that he loved it and that he wanted to use Baxter.



"That was about a year ago," says Baxter. The time since has been spent going back and forth, developing the set, a process that was stretched out because of both men's busy schedules.



"He wanted me to have a set that was not only good for their show, but that I liked," says Baxter. "In June, they officially said, 'You’ve got the set.' " But even then, Baxter wasn't immediately given a date. "I was travelling," he says, "I was about to go out to Europe. JP even came out to my show. I have to be honest, it was a really great show, and he said 'Yeah, we're going to definitely get you in the show.' "



Baxter says he finally got his air date just a few weeks ago, and that it couldn't have come at a better time.

"It's funny," he says, "I was on my way to a comedy show in Hartford, Connecticut, and I had just gotten in a car accident ... I'm on the side of the road, exchanging information, and I’m like, 'This sucks!' "



That's when the show called to give him the date.



"It was an eventful day," says Baxter.

The finished set prepared for "Conan" is just shy of five minutes long, which was a challenge for a comedian used to headlining 45-minute-long shows.

"It was hard to scale back to five minutes," says Baxter. "I had to figure out how to do everything I want to do in that five minutes. And then usually, when you're on a comedy club, there are comedians on before you to warm you up, but here, you're just on. So its like, 'Hey! You better swim!' "



Although he's on the road most of the time, Baxter still lives in Worcester and tries to do a steady stream of local and regional shows. He'll be hosting the Comedy Carnival fundraiser for the Rise Above Foundation at 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Scandinavian Athletic Club, 438 Lake St., Shrewsbury, and will be performing at shows Oct. 28 at Nick's Comedy Stop in Boston, Nov. 10 at the Davis Square Theater in Somerville (where he'll be recording an album), Nov. 11 at the Fox Theater at Foxwoods and Nov. 12 at the Wilbur Theater in Boston. More information about his schedule can be found at http://orlandobaxter.com.



Baxter started his career in 2005, when he was coaching basketball at Claremont Academy.



"I was telling kids to follow their dreams and not let anything stop them. I’d always wanted to try comedy. I've been funny all my life, but that fear of getting up on stage stopped me."



When he finally got up on stage, he says he bombed. But it was enough to start him on his path.

"I definitely fell in love with it," he says, "and have been passionate about it ever since. I got better, and more opportunities opened up. A few years ago, I decided to give it a full run, and it’s been good ever since."



Email Victor D. Infante at Victor.Infante@Telegram.com and follow him on Twitter @ocvictor.