Conan O’Brien told the crowd at Michigan State University’s Breslin Center on May 21 that he hoped attendees would walk away thinking, “Wow, that was sort of worth it.”
Judging by the boisterous reactions of the crowd, Conan’s “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour” did not disappoint. For two hours, Conan entertained the crowd with a mix of stand-up, musical performances, familiar features of his former shows and some special guests.
After opener Reggie Watts and the Legally Prohibited Band (featuring familiar faces such as Richie “LaBamba” Rosenberg, whose face Conan later licked during the show) started the show, Conan took the stage wearing a MSU jersey underneath his sport coat. It was so crazy to see those long legs walking out on stage, doing the String Dance.
He explained his excitement for being in Michigan, and the warm response from the Spartans. The crowd ate up Conan’s name-checking of local restaurants and businesses (he claimed that his new job will be at the East Lansing “Meijers,” which is a common Midwestern trait: adding an S to a store name, such as Krogers, KMarts, etc.), as well as direct digs at school rivals.
According to Conan, he rejected a bid by the University of Michigan to play on their campus. “I don’t like that school,” he told the crowd. Then, he added the line which got the most applause that evening, “Any school that needs a football stadium that big must have a small penis.” He joked that the school had a major drinking problem, since the students in attendance at the show clearly did not realize that school ended weeks ago. “Your mascot should be a hung-over Spartan vomiting into his helmet.”
Conan was not alone that evening. Longtime sidekick Andy Richter joined in on the fun, as did Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in a pre-taped segment which had local jokes dubbed into the tape. According to Triumph, his excrement made its way onto the restaurant of local eatery Chunky’s. Even though it’s meant as an insult, that bit (as well as the shout-out to the Riv) will likely remain the best possible press for the restaurant.
Deon Cole, a former writer for Conan, also took the stage for standup. Sarah Killen, the Michigan resident who got 15 minutes of fame after Conan chose her Twitter account as the only one he’d follow, hugged Conan onstage.
She pulled the “Walker, Texas Ranger” Lever, rechristened the “Chuck Norris, Rural Policeman Handle” due to Conan’s former employer, NBC, owning the intellectual rights over the original name. For the same reason, “the Self-Pleasuring Panda” visited the crowd, instead of the notorious Masturbating Bear.
Seeing the Masturbating Bear (no, I will not use the new name. Screw NBC.), uh, ‘perform’ live was so much more fulfilling than on the TV, and seeing Andy kick him in the nether region nearly made me lose it. As Conan said, “some men don’t like that!”
Both bits brought familiar elements of Conan’s shows to the audience (including the famous “Walker” clip where Haley Joel Osment’s character bluntly states that “Walker told me I have AIDS”), and reminded people why they paid to see the show live. As Conan said, he was the first time people ever paid to see him, and in return, he attempted to make the show as personal as possible.
I felt kind of geeky for being the only person in the Breslin Center yelling out the infamous “Walker told me I have AIDS” line during the “Walker, Texas Ranger” bit, yet I didn’t care too much, because the bit was so hilarious that it didn’t matter how big of a fool I made of myself.
While Conan is best known for his comedy, another passion of his is music. Throughout much of the show, Conan had a guitar in his hand, singing original and parody songs (such as “My Own Show Again” to the tune of “On the Road Again”), which brought a unique spin to his comedy not often seen on television.
In keeping with the musical theme, Conan’s guest that evening, Michigan native Kid Rock, took the stage to explain, in song, why he would make a good president. “I’d put TV cameras in the Lincoln Bedroom, and the whole nation could watch Rock layin’ it down,” he sang. Even though I’m not a Kid Rock fan, his bit was fun. I support his presidential platform promise of giving mothers who raise the nation’s children a paid vacation. I like that he still lives in Clarkston, Mich., and has a lot of pride for the state.
Reggie Watts and Deon Cole weren’t my favorite parts of the show, but they did make me laugh quite a few times. Reggie’s song about women and their purses with their crumbling eye shadow was pretty dead-on, and I learned via Deon’s bit and audience participation that white people are afraid of black people seeing them play hockey. Luckily, as he said, no black person will watch hockey.
Conan’s show combined the best of his comedy with his personal musical hobbies, his friends in show businesses and local flavor to create a show that kept the audience laughing and cheering all night. At the end of the show, Conan ran through the crowd of the Breslin Center, high-fiving and hugging fans in the audience, all the way up to the upper sections of the arena.
I just can’t begin to describe how much fun the show was. Conan clearly put his all into the show, and even with the long hours and insane schedule (our show was the fourth of a five-day in a row schedule that week, in addition to a trip to New York earlier in the week for TBS upfronts, then back to Chicago to perform), he was still full of an insane amount of energy. I loved that he ran out into the audience with very little restraint, and really tried to make it a great experience for the audience.
He made the show as personal as possible, showing that even though he may have fared well financially in the wake of the NBC controversy, he still cared about the people who made him popular. He will begin his new show on TBS Nov. 8, so it is unlikely that Conan will have the chance to tour again. So, for those lucky people who had the chance to attend the Legally Prohibited Tour, it will be a memorable and unique experience.
Judging by the massive audience applause throughout the show, it seemed fairy unanimous that Conan made the show more than “sort of worth it.” MSU’s representatives of “Team Coco” can sleep well knowing that they were able to be a part of such a riotous experience that showed why Conan has been beloved for nearly 20 years.
I took way too many pictures that night, you can find my pictures by clicking the photo at the top of the page. I just wish I had a better camera!
My videos can be found at my YouTube account. Here are two of my favorites.
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