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Ted Cox -- Chicago Daily Herald -- Wednesday, May 10, 2006 The key to "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" is the host's offhand brilliance - night in, night out. On the special occasion of his first show in Chicago Tuesday night, O'Brien was offhand, if rarely brilliant, but in that, to his credit, he didn't strain for laughs either. The show didn't make a Chicagoan see the city anew, the way David Letterman did when he brought "Late Night" here in 1989 and called the monumental busts outside the Merchandise Mart "the Pez Dispenser Hall of Fame," but it did engage Chicago in a playful manner. Mr. T chauffeured O'Brien around town in a taped bit, including a canoe trip down the Chicago River, and got off one of the best lines when he said, "I feel like 'Driving Mr. Daisy.'" O'Brien did not one, but two, jumps on his monologue spot, then calmed the raucous crowd by saying, "Keep cool my Midwest babies." He fell in love with the woman in the worst seat in the Chicago Theater, when he drew attention to her and she responded by doing his trademark string dance. When the first mention of the White Sox drew largely boos from the predominantly young, white audience of about 3,800, O'Brien continued, "The White Sox are currently the best team in baseball. The Cubs are currently the best team in Wrigleyville." With the Cubs in San Francisco to play the Giants and Barry Bonds as he pursued Babe Ruth's mark of 714 home runs, O'Brien said, "The Babe called his shot in the right-field stands, and Bonds called his shot in the right butt cheek." Chicago comedian George Wendt, best known as Norm from "Cheers," played along with "The Wheel of Wendt," and when it spun and called on him to "Do one push-up," he obliged. Viewers can stick around later in the week as the show airs at 11:35 p.m. on WMAQ Channel 5 in hopes of seeing Wendt called upon to "Take a dip in the Chicago River" or "Dive into a pool of nuts." O'Brien and bandleader Max Weinberg did a "Late Night Chicago Small Talk Moment," and the joke was it led to a remarkably astute exchange on mayoral politics - albeit with the help of cue cards. Yet otherwise the show was fairly pat, and part of the problem was the guests. Sean Hayes entered flying on stage wires and singing, "The Greatest American Hero," but his tenuous Chicago connections, having grown up in Glen Ellyn, were mainly used as an excuse to plug NBC's "Will & Grace" finale next week. Rockford's Cheap Trick was the musical guest and of course trotted out the almost 30-year-old war horse, "Surrender," enlivened only when O'Brien joined in at the end on guitar, writhing and sliding across the stage. O'Brien did get off the best ad-lib of the night. When Hayes mentioned Chicago's well-known penchant for barbecues, O'Brien replied, "There are nine barbecues going in the studio right now." That, of course, was a joke, but the audience was jovial and welcoming in the Chicago manner, and O'Brien clearly appreciated it. The crowd was slow being ushered in, so the taping started about a half-hour late at 5 p.m., but after that it ran like clockwork, down to the minute of the show's hourlong running time. O'Brien stuck around afterward to shake hands with the front rows, then grabbed a microphone and said, "We've been a lot of places; this is the nicest town," adding, "We'll see you around Chicago. We'll be here all week." As he settles in over the course of the week, here's hoping he delves deeper into the soul of the city as well. |