I was able to round up a ticket to Conan’s Austin show at the last minute, and boy was I glad that I did. This is really a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, and it was quite inspiring to see someone of his talent and fame take a bad situation and turn it into something simply awesome. He had the perfect job, then got fired from it, and then did something he’d never actually done before, stand-up comedy. Years of doing monologues had prepared him for this, and with all his Late Night buddies in the band and Andy Richter, it was a delightful evening. He even played guitar and keyboards, and sang. Opener Reggie Watts and local Charlie Sexton rounded out the event. The whole tour sold out with not much more than a tweet announcing it. This is definitely the future of promotion. Conan is going to be hugely successful in his next show on TBS. His rabid fan following of a youthful demographic is one that NBC is going to be salivating over for decades to come. It’s great to see someone being appreciated for his talents, and then reciprocating that appreciation. Before he closed the show, he sincerely thanked everyone for their support, stating “It changed my life.”






Austin’s Charlie Sexton







Opener Reggie Watts was hysterical… and quite odd.



I Will Survive

Conan O’Brien, Austin Music Hall, May 14, 2010