Thanks Conan!

Last night Conan O'Brien made his first appearance on the Tonight Show. I purposefully stayed up later than usual to watch the first half hour of the opening skits and monologue. Conan has always been my favorite of the late night comedians. I used to watch his show frequently when I was younger but haven't seen much more than clips of his show in years. I started to go to sleep earlier than I did back then, and he was simply on too late. Last night made me realize why he is my favorite and how much I have missed his show.

At first I was a little hesitant to watch this first installment of the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. I don't dislike Jay Leno, but I've never been a big fan either. I find his brand of humor to be more subtle than Conan's, and I was worried that their might be expectations for Conan to tone it down a notch. Well, after only a few minutes into the show it was pretty clear the spirit of Conan would stay the same.

The show began with a segment in which Conan moved to Los Angeles by running and swimming across various backdrops all the way from New York, stopping briefly to examine a doll shop. When he arrived, he decided to see what it was like to work as a tour guide on a Universal Studios tour bus. He commented on the exhibits, screamed during the scary parts of the tour, and took the bus on a detour onto the city streets. He stopped at a $.99 store where he bought such dollar store treasures as toilet paper, soda that nobody has ever heard of, and whiffle bats. He gave one of these to everyone on the bus. His monologue was also full of the usual funny jokes, and I was delighted to see that Andy Richter, another favorite of mine, has returned as his sidekick.

Conan represents something that is too often missing from comedy as of late--pure silliness for the sake of silliness. You know. It's the kind of goofy stuff we used to see on the Carol Burnett show. I watch Comedy Central from time to time but have often found the stand-up routines to be dull. Too many of them are the same. They are either one sex joke after another or sarcastic social criticisms that are good for the occasional giggle. Some of these I really do like. I enjoy the sardonic wit of Louis Black or watching John Stewart poke fun at the all of the uptight, self-righteous nonsense that goes on in the world. However, these guys are often dark because they mock things that would otherwise make us cry. Conan, on the other hand, is just plain weird and has that ability to make me laugh without really knowing why. Even when he is mocking someone or being crass, it is so over the top as to not seem at all mean spirited.

So here's a big thanks to Conan (and Andy Richter) for bringing his absurd craziness to an earlier time slot.

Conan image courtesy of quirkypixel.com