Conan O'Brien
Conan to go on the road for live shows
Conan O'Brien is contractually barred from appearing on TV for several months, so he's taking his show on the road. Why? Jeremy Hobson reports.
Poster for Conan O'Brien's "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour." (teamcoco.com)
More on Entertainment
TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: Conan O'Brien's clearly not the "sit around the house and take it easy" type. The former Tonight Show host is contractually obliged not to be on television for the next few months. So he's taking his show on the road. He's announced a 30-city stand-up tour, officially called the "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour." It starts next month in Eugene, Ore. But it's not like O'Brien has to work, so why is he?
Here's Marketplace's Jeremy Hobson.
Jeremy Hobson: When Conan O'Brien left the "Tonight Show" in January, he made clear that he wouldn't be spending his time on the golf course.
Conan O'Brien: And if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we will find a way to make it fun. We really will, I have no problems.
Applause
O'Brien: I don't want to do it in a 7-11 parking lot.
Instead, O'Brien, his sidekick Andy Richter and some of his old band will hit venues from the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium to Radio City Music Hall here in New York.
Stu Golfman: You know. he's a performer and performers love performing. If he can't do television, then this is probably the next best thing.
Stu Golfman is a Hollywood agent for a long list of well-known comics. He says all comedians crave attention, but he says, this tour might have another benefit for O'Brien.
Golfman: You know, it's not only going to be him doing live appearances. Stuff is going to get leaked onto the Internet, and it'll be a chance for him to, you know, keep himself on the eyes of many people online as well.
Just in case he needs a fan base to follow him back to TV -- if and when he returns to late night. But what exactly will people be watching him do at these live shows?
Variety TV critic Brian Lowry says the whole thing sounds risky to him.
Brian Lowry: Things don't always translate directly into that kind of space. He's not a stand-up comic per se, I mean, he really is by training a talk show host.
And O'Brien still has the PR entourage to prove it. It took me four layers of publicists and agents to get to the one who could tell me that Conan O'Brien is not doing any interviews about his tour.
In New York, I'm Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.