In one of the more surreal moments of my book tour so far, on Wednesday night — well, I guess more accurately put: early, early Thursday morning — I was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers’s debut week. I’ve watched SNL every week since I was in high school. It’s the only night I stay up late. But now that Meyers is hosting Late Night — and since I still can’t quite figure out the PVR thing — I guess I’ll be staying up late more often. He is amazing. Here are five things I learned from my experience:

1) Seth Meyers is not only hilarious — the perfect ratio of sarcastic and charming — but he’s also really smart and very classy. Each guest has their own green room and waiting in mine was a thank you note, personally signed by the comedy star. Meyers popped in to introduce himself before the show and seemed genuinely interested in some of the more mundane aspects of Toronto city politics as well as the divisions within the city because of amalgamation. He’d actually read my book, Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story! (Obviously, especially with these American shows, that’s not something you really expect.)

2) There’s a little doll on his desk with his veil, next to a cup of pencils. At the end of our interview I asked Meyers about it. “It’s Stefon. You know, we got married at the end of the show. Someone gave it to me.” SNL fans will recognize Stefon as Bill Hader’s character from Weekend Update, who plays a flamboyant city correspondent.

3) Kelly Ripa leaves rainbows and sprinkles in her wake. Ripa’s room was across the hall from me. We never actually spoke, but I’m pretty sure we made eye contact and I’m sure pretty sure she mouthed “let’s be friends.” Her arms are the most amazing things I’ve ever seen in my life.

4) The show’s “8G Band” is named for the studio in which the show is filmed. The group is led by former SNL star — and Meyers’ friend — Fred Armisen. The band was hanging out backstage beforehand. To be honest, the whole team working on that show seem to be having the time of their lives every single minute. (Also, perhaps I should have known this, but professional entertainment people actually say to one another “break a leg” before a show.)

5) The most stressful part of these shows is the walk out. Forget about the idea of tripping, what do you do when you make it there? Hug or handshake? At first, I figured I’d just watch the other guests, but Meyers knew them both — Ripa and country star Brad Paisley. He did a hug and double kiss with Ripa. Then full on bro-embrace with Paisley. When they called my name, I almost asked the producer, but then chickened out. In the end, I think we did a handshake, half hug, one cheek-to-cheek kiss thing. It was all downhill from there.