Hello, Sacramentonians!

I went with my friends Holly and Chad to see Conan O'Brien's "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television" tour last Thursday in Sacramento. The place was packed and the show was really funny. His band from the show (minus Max Weinberg) played a few introductory songs, and at one point all of the horn players walked out among the audience on the floor and played their solos using their wireless mics.

Conan did a monologue with some choice local material, including his impression of our governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, mention of the governor's name garnered mass boos from the audience. He's not a popular guy in this state right now, primarily because our budget is such a mess, but I digress. Conan used the Schwarzenegger impression and the associated booing to good effect, though, bringing it back several times and throwing in a faux-behind-the-scenes impression of Schwarzenegger talking to Conan on the phone about mention of his name and how it went over.

There were a couple of prerecorded videos which were really funny. I won't spoil it for those still waiting to see the tour, but one documented Conan's life during the post-Tonight Show funk prior to his putting this tour together and another involves a certain comic canine with which any fan of Conan's will be familiar.

There was more music than I expected. Conan played the guitar, and took center stage quite often, both singing and strumming, playing with the full band and two backup singers. Mr. Andy Richter also appeared, adding to the comic mix. They play off of each other well and Andy complements Conan perfectly.

Overall, this was a really fun show that exposed the audience to more of Conan's forthright genuineness and humor. He poked fun at TV network executives without being cruel, and made light of his own situation and his struggle to recover after losing his dream job.

Conan's recent interview on 60 Minutes was good, too. Nothing particularly groundbreaking was revealed, but he made it clear he was disappointed in how the late night situation happened and how he would have handled it differently had he been in Jay Leno's shoes.

This is great, too: Conan's recent appearance at Google, which happened on this tour the day before he appeared in Sacramento.