Review: Conan O’Brien’s ‘Legally Prohibited’ performance

Last night, Conan O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour came to Atlanta to close out a 42-city national tour at the Fox Theatre. O’Brien is a brilliant comedy writer and talk show host, but has never been a stand-up comedian, so I didn’t know what to expect going into the show. Excited as ever to see O’Brien just do stand-up for an hour straight, I couldn’t wait to hear jokes and insults about Jay Leno and NBC, mixed with uproarious storytelling about growing up as an awkward Irish kid in Boston.

Instead, O’Brien gave his future bosses — the Atlanta-based TBS executives in the audience — a preview of what they just bought, which simultaneously flipped a giant bird at NBC’s peacock. NBC legally banned O’Brien from doing his show on television, radio or the Internet until September, but it didn’t stop him from basically taking an elongated version of his late night show on the road. O’Brien joked, played music, and brought out a variety of special guests including show staples Andy Richter and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, as well as Georgia natives Evander Holyfield and “30 Rock’s” Jack McBrayer to help with special segments.

While I was mistaken to think O’Brien would be doing straight stand-up, I wasn’t disappointed at all by what I ultimately witnessed. First, Reggie Watts opened the show with an impressive, audience-captivating performance, combining live, improvised music with comedic ramblings. He ended his set by seeming serious, as he told the crowd that he wrote a poem he would like to share about what the tour had been like and meant to him. “This poem is written from the point-of-view of someone who wasn’t there, but thinks they know what it was like. Here it goes ... it’s in French.”