Last laugh

Conan’s late comedy on Madonna in TA

After a lengthy delay, US talk show host airs segment on singer’s Israel concert

By Nathan Burstein 1 July 2012, 1:55 pm

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Billy Eichner reports from Israel for Conan (photo credit: video capture, TBS)

He can’t say it was timely, but Conan O’Brien has finally broadcast a report from Madonna’s concert in Israel.

Nearly a month after the pop star opened her latest world tour in Tel Aviv, O’Brien aired a segment about the performance during his late-night cable show in the US. Featuring Billy Eichner, a regular comedy correspondent for O’Brien, the clip followed Eichner from Manhattan’s Upper West Side to Israel, where the visiting American made sure that locals know how to answer the question “What is your favorite Madonna song?” (The correct response: “Vogue.”)

In an effort to give the segment a little extra weight, Eichner also asked New Yorkers what they think about Iran’s nuclear program, and whether the US should intervene militarily to defend Israel. None of it’s particularly coherent, but Eichner appears to be having a good time.

Some of the featured Israelis seem less than enamored with Eichner, but however you feel about his interviewing style, his closing joke — about being gay and Jewish in the Middle East — deserved its big laugh.