If Uranus is the planet of comedy (which it is), then you have to laugh at Conan O’Brien, just looking at him. That’s because he’s got Uranus right on his Ascendant, the first thing you see – here’s a guy who looks and acts weird, and with Pluto also rising he tends to force himself on you, though with Aries Sun in a close out-of-sign trine with Uranus, he easily throws himself into the part and gets away with what others might not be able to pull off. He’s a natural comic and followed the profession from his early days at the Harvard Lampoon.

Part of what makes Uranus the planet of comedy is surprise and nervous discomfort, and O’Brien has a chart full of discomfort, which he uses as an integral part of his style. His see-saw chart is highlighted by a grand fixed cross of Mercury opposite Neptune square Moon/Saturn opposite Mars. He’s tied tight and sometimes grates on his audience, providing some of his humor as an actual relief when he stops doing something that’s making the audience feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, he’s got Jupiter rising ahead of the Sun and trine the Mars wing of the cross, so he makes his escape by jumping into something larger and more fun just as the audience is getting nervous. It’s really quite a unique formula for a comedian, and not in the common mold.

If there is one thing a grand cross has, it’s tenacity, and O’Brien has held onto his comedy career through thick and thin, both in front of the camera and behind it as a writer. One would never have thought he would become the anointed heir to The Tonight Show’s Jay Leno (himself a self-appointed heir to that show), but he has hung in there, using a weird and sometimes creepy Aries brashness without letup to sustain himself over the years. He should be a lesson to Aries in general, which tends to flag after a strong opening.

Current events: He’s under the gun this year as Saturn transits his Ascendant, and doubts about his imminent succession to Leno (who is doing too well to retire) abound. But don’t count this master of surprises out. His progressed Mars is just coming to conjoin his Uranus over the next several years and his progressed Moon doesn’t reach the full until 2012. Uranus goes over his Venus this year, so expect some weird surprises as he taps yet more discomforting humor in his strange box of tricks.