Conan O'Brien to give speech at Penn April 6

The late-night talk show host is Connaissance's 1998 spring speaker. Take Conan O'Brien and Penn. "If they mated," hypothetically, in the late-night host's most popular recurring comedy bit, what would the child look like? Probably something like the talk show host's upcoming speech on campus, which promises to be "informational and entertaining," with never-before-seen, "surprise" footage from O'Brien's television career, according to the student group who booked him. O'Brien, 34, the host of NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, will be on campus as Connaissance's 1998 spring speaker, according to members of the group, an arm of the Social Planning and Events Committee. O'Brien, who follows in the footsteps of recent speakers such as actor Danny Glover, director Oliver Stone and musician Billy Joel, will speak Monday, April 6, in the Annenberg Center's Zellerbach Auditorium at 8 p.m. Connaissance Co-Chairperson Jonathan Freedberg said he was pleased that his group succeeded in bringing a big name to campus. "He was actually at the top of our list [in the planning process]," the Wharton and Engineering junior said. "And we got him." O'Brien plans to discuss his rise to stardom in a one-hour presentation, taking audience questions for a half hour following his prepared speech. Freedberg expects a large student turnout for this event. "Conan is a very big name," he said. "All the reaction I've heard has been very positive." The event will be O'Brien's first collegiate lecture. Freedberg said he was "very excited" that O'Brien chose to speak at Penn first. Connaissance Co-Chairperson Dara Gruen credited early planning for the group's signing of O'Brien. "We were the first people to approach him about doing a college tour," the College junior said. "Once he does Penn, he's going to take his show to other schools." She added that O'Brien plans to use this speech as a "blueprint" for future speaking engagements. O'Brien, a Brookline, Mass. native, began his comedy career at Harvard University, where he was president of the Harvard Lampoon, the campus humor magazine. He wrote for NBC's Saturday Night Live from 1988 to 1991, winning a writing Emmy in 1989. He would later be a writer and supervising producer for The Simpsons. O'Brien was named to replace David Letterman as host of Late Night in 1993. As a result of the show's increasing popularity among younger viewers -- due in part to segments such as "If They Mated" and "In the Year 2000" -- NBC has extended his contract through 2002. The 975 general-admission tickets will cost $3 each and will be available on Locust Walk starting this Monday. Freedberg predicted that the show could be sold out within three days.

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