When Conan O'Brien took the stage of Atlanta's Fabulous Fox Theater on Monday night, he vowed to the audience that this show, the final stop on his "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour, would be the best.
He wanted them to come away from the show thinking the three-hour musical comedy extravaganza was "sort of worth it," a phrase which was soon chanted by the audience as O'Brien reacted in mock horror.
"Team CoCo" was out in full force, filling the theater, and the crowd practically ate out of the palm of the comedian's hand. O'Brien's trademark schtick and taped pieces (including a riotous one featuring Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, with Atlanta and landmarks from the city dubbed into his dialogue) got the biggest reaction from the audience.
Coincidentally, O'Brien winding down the tour in "Hotlanta, Humid-lanta, Unlivable-lanta" meant he was in the hometown of his new network, TBS. (CNN and TBS are both owned by Turner Broadcasting and are units of Time Warner.)
He made reference to TBS on more than one occasion (the official Twitter hashtag was "#tbyes"), joking at one point that they would regret hiring him while watching the opening monologue for his show.
When Conan wasn't on stage, announcer/sidekick Andy Richter, Jimmy Vivino and the band and former "Tonight Show" writer Deon Cole were also well received by the audience. Needless to say, devotees of Jay Leno would probably not have had quite as much fun at this show.
One theme of the night was just how grateful O'Brien was for his fans and for the warm welcome he received in Atlanta (he ended the show by running into the crowd, including the "cheap seats" high up on the balcony). The comic came across as quite generous, giving up-and-comer Cole a shot to deliver his material, as well as opener Reggie Watts, one of the most bizarre comedians/performance artists since Andy Kaufman.
It's clear that O'Brien has a fan base that is more committed to supporting him than ever. How that will translate in the fall, when he's competing head-to-head with his friends Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, will be interesting to watch.
Did you catch O'Brien and crew on any of their tour stops? Share your review of the show in the comments below, and in the meantime, check out former O'Brien announcer Joel Godard, speaking exclusively to a puppet iReporter.