Days Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten

Monday was a bit lower key than Sunday, if only that it wasn't as much an assault on the senses.

I started out by buying a Grey Line bus tour. It was about $50, but that was for two days, and I figured it was a good deal. You can hop on/hop off as much as you want. However, if you sit on the top level (open air) and you hop up, you'll find your head will hop down, if you get my drift.

It is really quite a good tour, they definitely know what they're doing.

Just before my first planned stop (and after we drove by the doink doink courthouse they tape Law and Order at) the phone ringed. I looked, it was a 212 local NYC number... BOOYEAH, Letterman tickets! I almost missed the Battery Park stop but did make it off. As recommended by a friend, I took the Staten Island Ferry. While this is free (bonus) the real treat is that it does a good pass of the Statue of Liberty.

I took a ferry back shortly afterwards and continued on my tour. I had a wonderful chat and laugh with a mother and daughter visiting from Minneapolis. She said that she would follow the blog! I'm gathering momentum (I apparently have four followers so far, which I think is awesome!)

Later on in the day I found a place called Pita Joe's for dinner, in the 14th St. area. I made the server laugh, she said it was the best she's felt all day. Yes folks, Vick is here for your therapeutic laughter needs. Stuart Larkin and Mr. Bean impressions are my specialty. Then I got a call from a friend and we ended up going to Caroline's on Broadway for a set. The comedian up front was great, he was the best of the bunch.

Tuesday was a bit of an interesting day. At 10 am, I found myself at Viacom, which houses, among others, Spike TV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, etc.

I can't tell you what I was doing there (to be honest, I'm contractually not allowed to talk about it) but I did enjoy it. And I got a visitor's pass for showing up at a production office! Tres cool.

Around 3 pm I left that neck of the woods and headed up to see DAAAAAAAAAAAAAVID Letterman! I arrived early and was told to come back at 4.30pm. Which I did, being the good little tourist. Just a bit early. Around 4.45 pm they took us in according to our bookings, and they had to verify our IDs, names, etc. So I go up to the ticket guy, and this was pretty much what the conversation consisted of (paraphrased):

Him: Let's see your ID.

Me: Here it is!

Him: Are you excited to be here?

Me: You bet! I'm visiting from Canada.

Him: You have to realize that Dave wants tons of energy from the audience here in the Ed Sullivan Theater. Are you prepared to clap and laugh the whole show?

Me: For sure! You ask me to jump, I'll ask "How High?"

Him: Great! Here's your ticket, please go stand over to the left.

Me: Thanks!

It occurred to me that there were only about 10, maybe 12 people were getting put over to the side I was on. Didn't really make that much of it, until we were taken outside and told that:

you have been hand selected for your enthusiasm... and will be rewarded with the best seats in the house!

We all looked at each other with amazement... I mean after Billy Elliot, I was going to have more luck!

I had another hour to kill so I wandered around and found FAO Schwartz. It's pretty impressive as far as toy stores go, and I got to recreate a certain playing of Chopsticks...

And on the way back I passed by the shoot for Sex in the City. I apologize in advance to my sister who is a big fan but I didn't have a chance to stop, as I had to get back to Letterman.

After the craziest pep talk by a set of pages I've ever seen, we got led to our seats. And guess what kids?

Front.

Row.

Centre.

AGAIN!!!!!! I mean this was amazing. And so was the show. It will air tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 11th) so if you catch this in time, you can see me! Watch for my head in the opening "swoop" by the audience.

I'll give you this, readers, Dave Letterman is brilliant at what he does. And his bits were great; I didn't feel I was forced to laugh at anything he said, it was funny all around.

(Side note: Blog daily. Catching up is hard work.)

So yesterday then. I got up really early, caught the bus in, bought a MTA Metrocard (yes, it's actually called that class of '01) and headed over to the United Nations. They conduct tours when they're not in session. And talk about powerful stuff. I can't recommend it enough. Sitting in the General Assembly was very powerful.

I nearly ran the whole way over to try and get to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in time for the 12.30 pm taping. Surprise we have no tickets for your sir, get in the standby line. I wasn't really thrilled, but I was all about the power of positive thinking.

Sadly that didn't work. No first taping.

HOWEVER! I did get a number for the second taping. I returned at 2.30 pm after doing some last minute souvenir shopping done. I had a nice chat in the line (about 90 minutes, approximately) with some other fans from Jersey, who were auditioning after the show.

FACT: You can audition for Millionaire anytime you attend a taping.

MORE FRUSTRATING FACT: Not if you're Canadian, mind you.

In any case, much to my delight, around 4.30 pm I was actually sitting in the audience! For those of you who don't know, I specifically went this week to NYC because Millionaire was taping. And soon after the warm up guy came out... guess who was the first person he talked to? Yep, me. He was fascinated to talk to the Canadian who was travelling the world! In fact he talked to me several times during the taping... and it all started out with knowing Betty White was an Emmy winner for best game show host. We had a repartee, dear readers.

I got to see two tapings - watch for me October 1st and 2nd (check local listings). During the first show, I sat front row left, just next to Meredith's entrance area. Watch for the elbow that blocks the lit stairs on the right of your screen. Guess where I sat during the second one?

Front.

Row.

Centre.

Good things come in threes.

The taping was freakin' wonderful. I have waited for years to see the show in person, but because they tape late August until November due to my teaching schedule I could never make it down (even more so because they tape Wed-Fri). And Meredith Vieira was the consummate professional. PLUS! We got to actually do the voting bit for Asking the Audience. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. It lasted a couple of hours and was just heavenly.

It was really cool after the taping... walking outside with my newly scored Millionaire tshirt, I had alot of people wish me good luck on my travels! Everyone in NYC was just so nice.

I then headed down to the East Village to be part of something related to Tuesday's secrecy... sorry, can't tell until it's time.

This morning it was time to head out. And pretty much that ended a picture-perfect vacation!

So to recap:

I'm in the audience of Late Show with David Letterman tomorrow night, Friday Sept 11th. Watch for me in the open. 11:34 pm, CBS.

I'm in the audience of Who Wants to be a Millionaire October 1st and 2nd. Check your local listings, as it airs in syndication across North America.

Cheers,

Vick