NU goes loco for Coco

By Ward Goolsby
Monday, January 25, 2010
Viewed 637 times.

Conan O'Brien finished his run on The Tonight Show this past Friday, but students here at NU honored the wacky red-haired comedian before he went off air.

"So I was thinking, ‘Who's here for Conan O'Brien day?’" said organizer Tim McGovern, who was sporting a black suit and a striking red wig.

A cheer erupted from the 50 students gathered in front of the Starbucks in Norris.

"I know there's a lot of people who love Conan at Northwestern who hate seeing him leave the Tonight Show," McGovern explained.

But he wasn’t alone in his support for the comedian affectionately known as Coco.

"Letterman and Leno are too old. Growing up, I watched Conan O'Brien," Communications freshman Jeff Sachs said.

“I'm here because I support Conan O'Brien as the host of the Tonight Show, and I would never turn down the opportunity to do a string dance with a whole lot of people who feel the same way,” added Weinberg Senior Kelby Siddons.

After all the Conan supporters arrived, everyone joined in on one big string dance.

“It's a dance where invisible strings are attached from the pointer finger and the thumb finger to the actual hip and they control it like a marionette,” said McGovern, who interned twice for O’Brien’s show. “It's an immediate signifier of Conan. That's totally Conan.”

Students started to string dance, all the while chanting, “Coco! Coco! Coco!”

“He has his own brand of humor that's delicious and zany and spot-on, and you can't beat the hair,” Siddons said.

O’Brien’s iconic red hair inspired Jon Goncalves to don a wig for the occasion.

“Well, I thought I needed to dress up, and I'd be letting Conan down if I just showed up in jeans and a T-shirt,” said Goncalves, a freshman in the School of Communications.

After dancing at Norris, the growing crowd stopped by the library, the Rock, and finished at the Arch. The campus-wide tour was to honor the comedian’s final appearance as the host of The Tonight Show.

“He’s probably the best comedian out there...and the one with the most character. And that has meant a lot to me,” McGovern said.

“I am with Coco!” Siddons said.

“I'm very much with Coco!” Goncalves cheered.

“I'm with Coco!” Sachs yelled.

“His future is really uncertain right now, but I think this is just to show that here at Northwestern we'll be watching where ever he is,” McGovern said.

After one final string dance at the Arch, McGovern bid farewell to all the supporters who had turned out.

“Thank you for coming to Conan O'Brien Day at Northwestern. Maybe they be many more,” McGovern said.