Brian McCann (actor)
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Brian McCann (born August 16, 1965) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his
sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...
work on the late-night talk show ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'' and more recently on ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show that featured Conan O'Brien as host from June 1, 2009, to January 22, 2010, as part of NBC's ''Tonight Show'' franchise. O'Brien had previously hosted NBC's ''Late Ni ...
'' and '' Conan''. After 17 years working with
Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' ( ...
, McCann left ''Conan'' due to his plans to return to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. His final day on the show was August 30, 2012. McCann went on to write for shows such as '' Nikki & Sara Live'' and '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell''.


Life and career

McCann was born and raised in
Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...
, which he has described as "an extremely uptight (and dry) town". He graduated from Boston College in 1987. He has two older sisters, is divorced and has a daughter. McCann moved to New York in 1995 when he became a sketch writer on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' until the end of the show's run in 2009. McCann played many recurring characters on the show, most notably Preparation H Raymond and The Suicidal Kayaker. He has also served as the warm-up comic that talks to the studio audience prior to each episode since 2000. McCann also wrote and provided many voices for the video games ''Deer Avenger'' (1998) and ''Deer Avenger 2: Deer in the City'' (1999). He is a graduate of the Player's Workshop of the Second City and the Second City Training Center. McCann also made guest appearances on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
sitcoms such as ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', tak ...
'' and ''
Parks and Recreation ''Parks and Recreation'' (also known as ''Parks and Rec'') is an American political satire mockumentary sitcom television series created by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur. The series aired on NBC from April 9, 2009, to February 24, 2015, for 125 ...
''. It was announced that he would be leaving the show as of August 30, 2012. McCann made occasional pre-taped appearances later in September. In November 2012, McCann was named as head writer for the
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
show '' Nikki & Sara Live''. and in 2013 he wrote for the
FXX FXX is an American basic cable channel owned by the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company through FX Networks, LLC. It is the partner channel of FX, with its programming focusing on original and acquired comedy series and fe ...
series '' Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell''. He would eventually become head writer for ''
The Kids Tonight Show ''The Kids Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show for children that premiered on Peacock on October 14, 2021. The series is hosted by Recker Eans, Dylan Gilmer, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Olivia Perez. On the show, it is referred a ...
'', housed in the same NBC studio where ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' had taped.


''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' recurring characters

*Adrian Foster ("''but my friends call me Raisin''"), a hippie folk singer playing an
autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...
*Eyeballs O'Shaughnessy, who expresses his emotions with the aid of various pairs of glasses that have eyes drawn in. *FedEx Pope, who was billed as the show's least popular character even in his first appearance, as if he had previously appeared. He wears a white bathrobe and a FedEx delivery box on his head. *Fun Hole Guy, an audience member who acts prudishly and derides Conan for his lack of decency, then stands up and storms off, revealing
fishnet stockings In the field of textiles, fishnet is hosiery with an open, diamond-shaped knit; it is most often used as a material for stockings, tights, gloves or bodystockings. Fishnet is available in a multitude of colors, although it is most often sported ...
, hotpants and a shirt with "Fun Hole" on the back and an arrow pointing down. *Guy who is always confused about future guests, who is an audience member who appears during Conan's listing of future guests. His thought bubbles are visible to everyone, and he always thinks of the wrong person (either with a similar-sounding name, or one name the same as the guest announced), or is thinking of an object that is somehow similar to the guest's name. *Jerry Butters, the 4 AM time slot talk show host across the hall - his favorite to perform. *Kneesocks Jones *The Loser, always somewhere e.g. "The Loser at the Beach", or "The Loser at the Golf Course". He always got attacked by a bear at the end of the sketch and said "Oh, No! Conan it's that damn bear again!" *Mick Ferguson, The Guy Who's Awfully Proud of his Bullet Proof Legs *"No Reason to Live"-guy, an audience member who becomes depressed by something inconsequential Conan says, and runs off to kill himself. After he runs out of the studio, stock footage (esp of a man in a kayak tumbling down a ski slope but other footage, like a cyclist pedaling off a bridge or a train plummeting off a mountainside) is shown, supposedly of the man killing himself. He then returns, unharmed. *Pimpbot 5000, who combines the classic sensibilities of a 1950s robot with the dynamic flair of a 1970s street pimp. *Preparation H Raymond, a buck-toothed, large eared man who sings songs about
Preparation H Preparation H is an American brand of medications that is made by Pfizer, used in the treatment of hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids are caused at least in part by inflamed blood vessels, and most versions of Preparation H work by reducing inflammation i ...
, with a refrain of "Raymond's here, Raymond's here" while handing the product out to the audience, and eventually eating some from the tube. *Robot on a Toilet *Page from Attractive Camp, who walks with a long gait and smugly repeats that he "just got back from Attractive Camp". * Terry Allen, a prospective late night host who schemed with Andy Richter to take over Conan's show in a four-part soap opera "Journey Past Midnight". * S&M Abe Lincoln: A new character introduced in March 2007, he is
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
, complete with beard whiskers and stovepipe hat. Dressed in nothing but leather S&M attire, with a red
ball gag A gag is a device used in sexual bondage and BDSM roleplay. Gags are usually associated with roleplays involving bondage, but that is not necessarily the case. The person who wears the gag is regarded as the submissive partner, while the other ...
stuffed in his mouth, as he walks across the stage he whips himself with a short
cat o' nine tails The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to the cat, is a type of multi-tailed whip or flail that originated as an implement for severe physical punishment, notably in the Royal Navy and British Army, and as a judicial punishment in Britai ...
. He usually lingers by the stage door, until the segment goes to commercial. * Johnny G, a guy who thinks Max Weinberg is hilarious.


''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' recurring characters

* "Twitter Tracker" announcer


'' Conan'' recurring characters

*Minty, the Candy Cane That Fell on the Ground: Introduced in December 2010, Minty is a candy cane covered in various pieces of garbage and insects as he "briefly fell on the ground." He also has a very catchy theme song. *"Fight To The Death Building Battle" announcer


See also

* List of ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' sketches


References


External links


The Many Faces Of Brian McCann
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Brian 1965 births American male television actors American male comedians American television writers American male television writers Male actors from Chicago Writers from Wheaton, Illinois Living people Writers Guild of America Award winners Actors from Wheaton, Illinois Screenwriters from Illinois Comedians from Illinois 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers