There are two sure things a Chicago crowd can reliably be expected to cheer for: Barack Obama and an exploding cow.
Conan O’Brien had both Friday night at his final Chicago show, with the non-bovine guest drawing two standing ovations for his jabs at President Bush, who may or may not be using a nickname when he calls the senator “Bama” and “Rock.”
One thing’s for sure: If the country was an NBC late night audience, the suggested “O’Bama/O’Brien” presidential ticket would glide into office.
Surprisingly, the only thing that could tame the lefty throng was … Wilco. Playing a song we’d never heard with less energy than we’d ever seen, Jeff Tweedy and crew were the night’s big disappointment.
Thankfully, there were other highlights:
– An Andy Richter cameo. NBC may not pick up O’Brien and Richter’s latest sitcom project this fall, but the duo sure made us pine for those old Andy-Conan days. Come back for “The Tonight Show,” Andy!
– Conan dancing the jig, a la Ashlee Simpson, during commercial breaks. Silly dancing is clearly the lanky host’s coping mechanism of choice.
– The random postshow performance by Chicago punk marching band Mucca Pazza. Even when the stagehand gave them the ubiquitous hand-to-throat “cut” signal, the enthusiastic band kept marching and playing, marching and playing.
– Borders on State Street. OK, this has nothing to do with the show per se. But for a crowd that waited outside for hours in the rain and wind, with just some Conan-comped pizza to sustain it, only to find that the Chicago Theatre bathrooms were closed during taping, Borders was quite the refuge.
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The Personals page was compiled by Cheryl Bowles from Tribune news services and staff reports.