Conan O’Brien will take his show to theaters
NEW YORK ñ Without a TV show to do every night, Conan O’Brien is taking his act on the road.
The former host of “The Tonight Show” announced a 30-city theater tour on Thursday. Sidekick Andy Richter and the former “Tonight Show” band will join O’Brien for what he promises to be “a night of music, comedy, hugging and the occasional awkward silence.”
The “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour” begins April 12 in Eugene, Ore., and concludes June 14 in Atlanta. It will visit theaters in at least 20 states and two Canadian provinces. Additional dates may be added.
O’Brien quipped: “It was either a massive 30-city tour or start helping out around the house.”
On the itinerary is New York’s Radio City Music Hall, just steps from where O’Brien first gained fame hosting “Late Night,” and the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, Calif., near the studio where he presided over “The Tonight Show” for eight months.
The tour also will make a stop at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, the annual festival that takes place June 10-13 in Tennessee. Aside from performing in the comedy tent, O’Brien will emcee the festival’s largest music stage on June 11 and 12, the festival said.
O’Brien quit “The Tonight Show” in January instead of taking NBC’s offer to move his start time back by a half-hour to make room for “Tonight Show” veteran Jay Leno’s return to late night from a failed prime-time show. He hasn’t announced any future television plans.
Leno now is back in his old “Tonight” slot, which he had bequeathed to O’Brien last June.
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