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Conan O’Brien: L.A. Audiences Are a Little Nicer

Photo: Kris Connor/Getty Images
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 23: Conan O'Brien poses for photos on the red carpet during the 14th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on October 23, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)
Conan O’Brien. Photo: Kris Connor/Getty Images

Conan O’Brien has brought his talk show back to the Big Apple this week (where he’ll officiate an on-air gay wedding), and Entertainment Weekly asked the comedian if he detected a difference in the studio audiences he gets on both coasts. “If [your jokes] get really mean, New York audiences get excited,†said O’Brien. “In Los Angeles, if I say something that’s kind of mean, the audience is like, ‘Ohhhhh, come on! The weather is nice, what are you being mean for?’ When we go for the jugular out here in Burbank, they’re just like, ‘Ohhhhh, Kirstie Alley is a person. She’s nice. I’m sure she has friends.’ In fact, O’Brien claims that the West Coast audience belies their shallow stereotype: “If I make fun of myself, sometimes they’re very like, ‘Nooo. You’re kind of good looking. Your eyes aren’t that beady. You’re not completely asexual.’†[EW]

Conan O’Brien: L.A. Audiences Are a Little Nicer