O'Brien, Ansari rule Comedy Theater

One of the biggest ways Bonnaroo distinguishes itself from other music festivals is by paying respect to that other great art form, comedy. Where other festivals just have bands, Bonnaroo also has a comedy tent where big-name comedians perform.

This year, Conan O’Brien was undoubtedly the biggest attraction among Bonnaroo’s comedy lineup. I had to wait two and a half hours just to get a ticket to the show, plus an additional two hours to get a good seat.

While waiting for tickets to be distributed, the incredibly long and winding line collapsed on itself, and people began pushing themselves into the front. For a while, it looked like there might be a small riot.

O’Brien’s two shows at Bonnaroo were some of the last of his “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” tour and a special chance for festival attendees to see it — the rest of the tour was sold out nearly from the start.

The show opened with a pre-filmed short of O’Brien sporting a gut and a belly-length beard. The show included most of the members of his “Tonight Show” band, minus Max Weinberg. O’Brien even played guitar and sang with the band on a few songs. His jokes about his termination from NBC were extremely funny but often undercut with a bit of sadness.

The other big draw for Bonnaroo comedy was Aziz Ansari. The “Parks and Recreation” star performed multiple shows during the weekend. Topics included rapper 50 Cent discovering that grapefruits aren’t the same thing as grapes, a bit about his cousin Harrison, and an awkward bit where the sign-language interpreter had to make gestures to describe “fellatio-type services.”

Ansari’s show was painfully funny, and it was obvious his career is still on the rise.