Last night I experienced an extraordinary night of comedy. I went to Radio City Music Hall for Conan O’Brien’s triumphant return to New York City, performing live on “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour“. It wasn’t his first stop on the tour, but I knew that this one would be special, seeing how he would be performing not more than a few 100 feet from his old ‘Late Night’ studio (and studio bosses). After the very public and acrimonious break up between him and NBC, this was going to be amazing.

And it was. The warm up act, Reggie Watts, was really funny, kicking things off with the right amount of wackiness. I look forward to seeing more of him in the future. Then Conan’s old band (minus Max Weinberg) came out to pump up the crowd. And finally, the pale-faced one came out, wearing his new beard (which was prominently featured in a little movie used in the opening act) and brandishing his trademark self-effacing humor.

But he didn’t hold back in any way, firing salvos at everyone, from Leno to Kim Kardashian and the Jersey Shore craze (”they have shows and I don’t???”). Of course, the choicest shots were reserved for NBC execs. There were a lot of musical numbers, where Conan sang popular songs that were suitably modified for the jokes (”On the Road Again” quickly turned into “Take me Off the Road Again”). Overall the show was like an extended ‘Late Night’ monologue, with assistance from his usual sidekicks – Andy Richter, La Bamba and others.

But all that would have only made for a pretty good night of comedy. What really pushed the show over the top was when Stephen Colbert stepped onto stage to challenge Conan to a dance-off for the title of “King of New York”. They kissed (!!!), they danced, it was amazing. And then Colbert pulled a hamstring, and was almost forced to default, when…well, see the video below.

Yes, that’s Jon Stewart coming to the rescue of Colbert. When he walked down the aisle to the stage, the crowd went absolutely bonkers. It was absolutely the best, most un-rehearsed, completely hilarious thing I have seen since, well, since the famous Stewart-Colbert-Conan crossover episodes during the writers strike.

After that, Conan pulled out an old favorite – the Walker, Texas Ranger Lever – with help from special guests Bill Hader, John Krazinski and Paul Rudd. He also introduced the replacement for a recurring character that cannot be mentioned on a family-friendly blog like this one. And Triumph the Insult Comic Dog brought down the house in his own inimitable style.

It was an amazing evening of comedy, and Conan got a well deserved standing ovation from a loving New York crowd. I don’t think any show on this tour will ever be able to top this one, not just because of the guests but because of the unique context of the show. In any case, I was glad that I was lucky enough to be there to experience Conan (and the next chapter of the greatest crossover ever) in full glory.