Conan O Brien Tickets

"Coco's coming!" TV funnyman Conan O'Brien is on "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour." Tickets are available now. Conan O'Brien's tour is billed as "A Night of Music, Comedy, Hugging, and the Occasional Awkward Silence." He assures fans will get plenty of comedy and music (no guarantees about the hugging) when you catch him at venues like the Austin Music Hall in Texas, Boston's Wang Theater, New York City's Radio City Music Hall, and Philadelphia's Tower Theater, which is actually in Upper Darby. Conan O'Brien will be reunited on the tour with long-time sidekick Andy Richter and his band will of course be the Max Weinberg 7, albeit without Max Weinberg. You can expect special surprise guests in a variety of cities, as when the rock band Spoon joined the show on the tour opener in Eugene, Oregon.

Conan O'Brien fans have proved themselves to be fiercely loyal and adoring. In Eugene they lined up hours early in a pouring rain (even though they all had reserved seats) to chant his name to passersby.

"The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" is first rate comedy, though not your standard stand-up. It is more of a freewheeling variety show, harkening back to vaudeville, make that: high-energy postmodern post-ironic vaudeville. Conan O'Brien appears in skits, many of them famous reprises from his days on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and his short tenure on the "Tonight Show." A certain self-pleasuring bear makes an appearance, though it is changed to a panda since the NBC network claims "intellectual property rights" to most material from the old TV shows. A highlight of the night is a certain insult comic dog who mercilessly skewers things we normally cherish and hold dear, also making fun of whatever city the show is traveling through. Conan himself dons the guitar and sings several songs to the delight of fans. Each song has the lyrics altered to be "Conan-specific," like Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and a re-working of "On the Road Again" into "I Want a Show Again."

Conan O'Brien got his start while at Harvard University as the editor of the Harvard Lampoon, the precursor of the famous magazine and media empire "National Lampoon." After graduating, O'Brien went on to be an Emmy Award winning writer on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," often teaming with Robert Smigel of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog fame. O'Brien was with the show from 1987 to 1991, often appearing in bit parts in sketches. He moved on to a new program on the fledgling Fox Network, "The Simpsons." He was with the program from 1991 to 1993, as writer and producer.

In 1993 Lorne Michaels, producer of "Saturday Night Live," invited Conan to audition for the talk show that would replace "Late Night With David Letterman." To the astonishment of nearly everyone in the media business he got the gig. Conan joked at the time that since he was a complete unknown he came very cheap. The show took about three years to fully hit its stride, but once it did Conan had his loyal fan base. His self-deprecating satirical style had struck a nerve with a new generation, much in the same way that his mentor David Letterman had many years before. He remained with the program for sixteen years; after that, The "Tonight Show" fiasco mentioned earlier. In November 2010 Conan O'Brien will start a new program, weeknights at 11:00pm on the cable channel TBS. Until then, you can catch him live on tour only.

"The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" show opens with a hilarious satirical film of a very overweight and long-haired Conan O'Brien hanging around the house watching TV and drinking multiple bottles of wine (in reference to his squabbles with NBC over "The Tonight Show," where Conan stuck to his guns and refused to let them move the show's time slot, had his contract bought out and quit). He didn't really watch TV and get fat; it's a skit. It goes on to show Conan getting a phone call to do the tour. He excitedly cuts his hair, shaves his beard, and loses the weight (by taking the fat suit off). It sounds funnier, if you see it. He looks in the camera and says, "Let's do this!" The curtain rises and before you know it, Conan is on stage to thunderous applause and the "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" starts with a funny bang.

Now that Conan O’Brien is off the Tonight Show, and has hooked up with TBS for a whole new show in September 2010, he has hit the road for his “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on TV” tour, and apparently he is a big hit in the live arena. As mtv.com reported, audiences went nuts from the first date on the tour, chanting “Conan! Conan!” O’Brien himself called the night “part rock, part late-night variety show.” After leaving NBC, O’Brien is clearly wasting no time, and has lost none of his trademark hilarity either.

It is being billed as “A Night of Music, Comedy, Hugging, and the Occasional Awkward Silence.” You want great, unpredictable humor from a master? Conan O’Brien delivers. As one critic pointed out, “At times, the show seemed to cheerfully roll around like an out-of-control soccer ball, but O’Brien and crew always managed to bring it back from the ‘where-is-this-going?’ episodic brink.

O’Brien Hits the Road

Many comedians like to get back in touch with their roots by hitting the road. For many comedians, performing live without a net is like going to the gym. Jerry Seinfeld is currently touring, Robin Williams always liked to perform live to keep his skills sharp, and Conan looks like he will be in great shape for his TBS show.

It’s not clear whether he’s trying out new comedy skills for his next show, or letting loose a bit from the constraints of TV, but whatever his motivation for hitting the road again, the bottom line is O’Brien’s still funny, and his trademark wit is as sharp as ever.

Headlines nationwide are raving at his live performance: “Conan O’Brien rocked the Ellie Caulkins Opera House,” “Conan O’Brien’s Live Show Is a Winner,” and “Conan Revives Edgy ‘Late Night’ Vibe.”

Standin’ By O’Brien

It is hard to think of a comedian who inspires more fan loyalty than Conan O’Brien. His fans are called Team Coco, and they have come out in major force to support Conan on the road.

At the first show on the tour, he addressed the audience by telling them, “The support that I got from people just like you has meant everything to me. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.” He then launched into a song that he said “had real meaning to me these last three and a half months.” It was the disco classic I Will Survive.

As O’Brien is about to start a new chapter in his career, he should continue to survive just fine. Better than survive, he’s thriving on the road, and no fan of great comedy should let this one pass them by.