O’Brien documentary takes vivid look at his road to TBS

Much of “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” is very funny, but the laughs catch in the throat.

The documentary follows O’Brien in the wake of his “Tonight Show” job kerfuffle. An ugly, protracted legal wrangling unfolded, which resulted in O’Brien being effectively banned from TV for about eight months.

Partly to combat boredom and partly to salve his wounds, he mounted the “Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” tour and took it across the United States (including Spokane).

O’Brien has since landed at TBS and all of this drama, which unfolded in late 2009 and early 2010, seems very distant indeed. Yet, thanks to the unfettered access of this documentary, that moment in time comes rushing back, vividly.

Rodman Flender’s camera captures some revealing moments, often centered on O’Brien’s acknowledgment that he works at a brutal pace and can’t always exactly explain why.

There are moments reminiscent of the terrific “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” and its revelations that the iconic Rivers lives in fear of an empty calendar. Being funny is not without its pitfalls.

O’Brien’s emotions about the “Tonight Show” debacle aren’t sanitized, as they have been in other major interviews – at one point, he admits to being so angry he couldn’t breathe – and the film also shows the manic timetable and grueling toll the tour exacted upon him (one sequence at the 2010 Bonnaroo festival, near the film’s end, is as poignant as it is hysterical).

“Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” manages to revere its subject while still conveying the personal and professional hell unleashed upon it. It’s a fascinating peek behind the carefully managed media curtain, to see what it looks like when a star stumbles.

“Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” is playing at the Magic Lantern Theatre.