VANCOUVER REVIEW OF CONAN FINALLY IN!!!! - SORRY FOR THE WAIT
I know it's been weeks since Mr. Conan graced the Orpheum theatre in Vancouver and I have yet to blog about it.
I love Conan and when I heard he was bring his "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" to Van, I jumped on the oppotunity to see him live. It's probably going to be one of the only times I ever get to see a late night personality live - so I grabbed it and dragged my very willing friend Leah along. The show opened with Reggie Watts - FUCKING HILARIOUS!!!!!! If he ever comes within a 4 hour drive of me, I am going - he is probably the funniest person I have ever seen!!! It's hard to describe him so I pulled some other people's exerts of his talents:
"Sharp, wry and elusive ... Reggie moves seamlessly from skits to songs to off-kilter stand-up, while talking in a subway train full of accents." – New York Times
"There's no one out there like Reggie Watts. Reggie covers everything from ancient history and racism to pop-culture, in a heady mix of improvised music, comedy and social insight. This guy has to be seen to be believed. Truly awesome!" –Time Out London
"Watts, with his cloud of black hair and surprisingly beautiful voice, is loads of fun to watch." – Variety
"Reggie Watts is a most unusual talent: a huge vocal range, a natural musicality, and a sidesplitting wit. Is he a comedian? A singer? A performance artist? I've seen him a few times since then and I still can't decide. Whatever, he ain't like nobody else." – Brian Eno
He totally created the best vibe to start of the big show.
After a brief break, the large monitor at the back of the stage starts playing and we get a visual of Conan in a fat suit with pizza on his belly - indicating that since his show's cancellation, he hasn't done much, but wallow in self pity. It continues with him making breakfast shakes with chips, sitting on the trampoline while his daughter jumps, continuously making slow trips to the mail box and my favorite is when after sitting on a lounge chair for a extended period of time, his daughter comes up and says "Mom, Dad smells like Pee"!!! Love it!!! As the Intro goes on you see him getting a phone call letting him know that they found a new gig for him touring North America with a live version of his T.V. show. You see him get back into shape and prep for his return!!!!
The band comes out booming Conan's opening tune and they rock the joint to pump up the audience - moments later they introduce CONAN O'BRIEN!!!!!!!!!! He comes out to a crazy crowd - nobody wanted to let up on the screaming to let the guy speak - it was so great to be there. Side note - he is really fucking skinny - I mean Really!!!! I knew he was thin, but I wasn't expecting that - either he lost weight or the camera puts on more like 30 pds!!!
Conan begins like he does with every televised show and gives us an opening monologue - it was good (not great, but good), I enjoyed the small digs at Jay Leno's expense and when he said "This is the first time anyone paid to see me. They've paid to make me go away ..."!!! He then Introduces Andy and they give us a couple funny songs and a little comedy back and forth, this is when things start to get a little slow. It became obvious about 45 minutes in, that Conan is not used to providing a hour and half set of stand up entertainment. He is used to doing his 10 minute monologue, some funny pre-shot skits and then 30 minutes of interviews. To his credit it was only the 2nd show on the road and it appears (to our bad luck) that things have really picked up along the tour!!!.
Conan than pulled out some of his past shticks that are now claimed to be the property of NBC, luckily that didn't stop him from delivering Triumph the Insult Dog, the Movie Lever (Chuck Norris clips) and never forget the Masturbating Bear -- (now the Self-Pleasuring Panda) -- in what was largely a re-creation of his old show minus the guests.
The day before the show we had heard rumors from local radio station's that he would be interviewing guests and possibly Michael Buble might be coming down to the show - I of course jump on the rumor mill hoping for the best - unfortunately there was no Michael, but thankfully Conan did allow one of his writers to come out and do some Stand up (which was perfect timing as a break from The Conan/Andy shenanigans was badly needed!!!). His name was Deon Cole and although a couple of jokes fell short, he delivered a pretty funny performance. After his set the remainder of the show was filled with musical segments, Andy's live commercial's featuring Japa dogs and The Penthouse and Conan's interesting wardrobe changes. All in all the show was awesome and Conan stuck true to form. Just before he performed the final song he took a minute to be serious and express his appreciation for all the support he has received over the past 3 months. It was one of my favorite parts . . . .He said:
"In 1993, when I first got started in television, just about everybody in America hated what we were doing," "The first people to embrace us were Canadians."
"During those early days of hosting the New York-based Late Night with Conan O'Brien, he could always tell when Canadians were in the audience because they were the ones who actually laughed at his jokes", he said.
"You saved my life and we've gone through a lot of weird stuff in the last 3½ months," "The support that we have had from all of you online has been absolutely extraordinary."
Needless to say, I was 1/2 a second away from tears!!!
I love it when someone with as much talent, success and money can be humbled and appreciate those that brought him to that place. I had a great time.
ONLY MAJOR COMPLAINT: So as I said earlier on, I was a little disappointed that there were no guests - Turns out I am justified and we were seriously fucking ripped off!!!!!!!!!!!! He had fucking Jim Carrey on his show the other day and in previous weeks he had Jon Hamm, Johan Hill, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam, Chris Isaak . . . . . the list goes on!!!!!!! Seriously is it because we are in Vancouver and no one wants to make the trip?????????? If that's the case than get Michael Buble - he lives here for frig sakes!!!!!!!!!! Plus additional side note - he has a blog that has small write up's about each stop - Vancouver got nothing!!!! There is a section titled Vancouver, but that's only because that is where he blogged from, it's says nothing about the show in Vancouver!!!!!!! I guess we are forgettable hey Conan!!!!! Okay my rant is over, but I am still a little pissed!!!!!!
To end this on a positive note, because I really did enjoy the show. I guess Jay was here a couple of months ago and people were really disappointed with the lack of energy and enthusiasm he displayed (you think after everything he would be appreciative to still have people buying tickets to his shows!!!). Anyway lack of energy is one of the last things I would ever say about Conan's show - you could tell that he wanted to be there and that he appreciated those seats being sold!!!!!!!!
