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Sunday 18 April 2010

O'Brien opens nationwide comedy tour

Conan Christopher O'Brien, an American television host and comedian, fueled by three months of unused comedy energy, kicked off a nationwide tour that evoked his late-night brand of edgy humor and brought a college-town crowd to its feet.

"I'm not supposed to admit this, ladies and gentlemen, but I really missed the applause," O'Brien said Monday. "You have no idea how shallow I am."

"This is the first time anyone has paid to see me. They've paid me to go away," O'Brien told the audience of more than 2,500, an obvious reference to the former "Tonight" host's $32 million exit deal with NBC.

Warning that "lawyers are watching," O'Brien told the crowd that he was barred from performing on TV, radio or online for the near future and that ownership of some of his bits was in question. That didn't stop him from including a Triumph routine or bringing out the Masturbating Bear, who with a small costume adjustment became the Self-Pleasuring Panda.

O'Brien acknowledged that a new TV gig awaits him later this year: TBS announced Monday that he will host a four-day-a-week show at 11 p.m. Eastern time, perhaps starting in November.

O'Brien's boundless, near-manic energy was at once impressive and worrisome: Can the rail-thin comedian keep this pace up for some 30 cities more?

He'll be testing himself in the Northwest and Canada before he hits bigger U.S. cities (Los Angeles, April 24-25; New York, June 2-3; the tour ends in Atlanta on June 14). With tickets priced from $40 and up, the tour is virtually sold out.

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