Deon Cole

The writers of Late Night With Conan O’Brien took to stand-up in the wake of the NBC fiasco, individually, in the Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television tour, and as a team in various comedy festivals. Before you scoff and cry foul of Conan’s entourage cashing in on the newfound attention: Don’t. During the Legally Prohibited tour, O’Brien brought out sweater-vest-clad writer Deon Cole—of the “Conan is a ho” routine—to do some stand-up, and it was easily one of the show’s highlights. With a pastiche of obvious white-guys-do-it-like-this-but-black-guys-do-it-like-this jokes and bits where he plays both sides of a conversation, his set works despite its obviousness, perhaps due to his taking notes on how the jokes go over. Regardless of how, it does work, which should come as no surprise to viewers of Conan. 

Updated 12/05/2011