Conan O’Brien at the Midland
The beloved accretion of tics and self-effacement known as Conan O’Brien performed live at the Midland last night. While it’s possible to discuss last night’s show while avoiding the elephant shit in the room — Tonight Show host Jay Leno, a man whose talent and ambition long ago vanished in the rear-view mirror of his 1938 Phantom Corsair or whatever — one ends up looking kind of ridiculous for ignoring said unsightly pile of elephant shit. Suffice it to say that in dislodging O’Brien from his Tonight Show hosting gig, this unbelievably boring late-night fan-favorite of Liberty Medical subscribers and Jitterbug phone users cemented his reputation as an outright villain.
Contractually precluded by NBC from performing on television until the fall, O’Brien has mounted “The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour,” a series of live shows in 32 cities. The Legally Prohibited Band took the stage to some tectonic applause from the standing-room-only crowd at the Midland, priming the room for the entrance of ginger headliner O’Brien, who was introduced via the screening of the first of many pre-taped sketches.
