WWTBAM Bored

Got up at 3:30 Thursday in order to shower, dress, get to the airport, gas up and return a rental car, etc., for a 6AM flight. Dithered on the clothing, but recalled my last minute, disastrous change for my other audition in 2001 and went with the original choice. No problems with car or refueling, and was there in plenty of time. You know you've gotten to the airport at a terribly early hour when the Starbucks isn't even open yet. (Side note: with all due respect to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its capital, and understanding that it is surrounded by farmland, I had trouble with the fact that the outside of Harrisburg International Airport smelled like the inside of a dairy barn.)

With a franchise-brand, very caffeinated coffee and a sugar-laden muffin in me, I was wired and awake to see a most beautiful sunrise from the plane. As we approached LaGuardia, I wondered where we were, and was almost immediately rewarded with an overhead view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Very nice start to the day.

Taxi into the city was fun. Chatted with the driver (I was his first fare of the day) all the way in, especially about what I was planning. He's a fan, too. Drove through Central Park, and got a good understanding of why NYC passed a poop scoop law. LOTS of dogs around, including inside a fun-looking play park. Many away from the park as well.

Got to 30 West 67th very early, scoped out the location, and headed to the famous Starbucks across Columbus Ave. Chose a green tea latte, which I will not re-order. Plain green tea for me, thanks. Hung out there till around 9:00, then moved back to the doorway to find a goodly line already formed back toward Columbus.

Got into it, and saw most people had the formal ticket in their hands. Got nervous about that, but an AP came around to hand out numbers (I was 76), I explained the situation and showed her my e-mail reply from the website, and was okayed. First hurdle passed: I got in.

Line time was spent filling out the forms and chatting with neighbors. One woman was on her 4th or 5th try (didn't mention that I knew someone who had her beat by a mile. She said she knew someone who tried out 6 or 7 times A MONTH, though. You ain't alone, Marley.). Another was a classic stage mom. Had a 13 YO son who attended a school for the arts in NJ. Nice enough person, but very loud, brash and pushy. Hard to get a word in edgewise. A dad and college-age daughter (playing hooky) from Columbus OH, in town to visit with relatives and try out. She was thrilled that she saw Ben Affleck arriving to do one of the talk shows (either Regis and Kelly or The View).

Wait was long. Didn't get to go in till almost 11. Fortunately for me, because of the two carry-on bags I was lugging, they let me in early for the security check. Literally airing my dirty laundry, too. Passed through security, took advantage of the facilities to get rid of my metabolized caffeine (who knew when I'd next have an opportunity?), and headed to the offered seating.

The set: probably not as big as you think, if you've never seen it. Not a whole lot of seats, either. Perspective and camera angles are everything. But otherwise, just as I expected, and the seats were reasonably comfortable. Fake flowers along the front railing of the seating and on a table between the screens for contestant and Meredith. Huh? Then a seatmate points out that there are TWO contestant seats. Ah! Must be "Play to Pay for your Wedding" week. Cool! I'm right behind Meredith, but in the second row so you probably won't see me at all. She ended up blocking her screen entirely for me, but I had a great direct view of the players, the director and the teleprompter.

More later. I need to get SOME work done today.

gs

Original post: Quick report, because I'm exhausted. Will add more tomorrow.

Passed test. Was first name called, ending the suspense early, and got complimented by Paul Mercurio for my reaction. Yelled myself hoarse during the tapings. Around 20 passers of a pretty large group of testers. Met with Adam, also interacted with several of the other AP's. Thought it went well, but no 2nd interview. Not sure anyone got one, but it was hard to tell; we were in the audience changeover, so the interviews were en masse, right then and there in the studio, maybe four or five different AP's working at once, while they were still taking the photos and collecting forms.

It was Pay for your Wedding week, to air the week of Feb. 4th. (5th?) Sweepstakes prize is a trip to Fiji. Brides.com is the sponsor. Marley's gonna REALLY hate one particular couple. No llamas, and some pretty funny bits between the couples. I'll be interested to see how the holdover couple from the third show does. Some good reactions and stuff.

Someone during the week of October 29th sees the $1MM question. Was announced at the end of the tapings.

Had fun, regardless of the outcome. But I've done my part. The rest is up to them.

Thanks for the vibes, everyone. Marley was just about on the money with his timing. But now I really have to get some sleep. Niters.

Great post, gs. Good luck on the future contents of your mailbox!








Now, why am I terrified that I will be seeing the pushy stage mother on my television screen?

Thanks for the report, gsabc! Welcome to the mailbox stakeout!

gsabc wrote: Line time was spent filling out the forms and chatting with neighbors. One woman was on her 4th or 5th try (didn't mention that I knew someone who had her beat by a mile. She said she knew someone who tried out 6 or 7 times A MONTH, though. You ain't alone, Marley.).

Oh, yeah, while I may hold the record among BBs, I know there are NYC locals (apparently without jobs) who can make much bigger nuisances of themselves with the APs than I do!

Best of luck, many possitive vibes going your way.

Most excellent, Gordon! A+ for the cabdriver chat.

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah ...

Blond AP comes out, seems to be the boss (Jessica? It was a J name, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't Jennifer). Gives us our instructions on taking the test, as they are being handed out. Plain manila envelopes with numbers in the corners, then the Scantron forms. Oh, and the pencils with the WWTBAM logo. After going through our instructions (30 questions, 10 minutes, she'll tell us the five minute mark, no marks after the 30 question area, etc.), someone asks if we can put our names on the form yet. She is suitably embarassed about forgetting that little point.

Begin. I start zooming through the first five, then realize I was doing something stupid, which is what I get for only half listening. Nearly blew the whole thing by going DOWN the column of questions, when Jessica had explicitly told us that the form went down but the questions went ACROSS! With a huge internal sigh of relief, I erase the last four answers and start over. In a bizarre turn of events, the answers for the real first five are the same as for numbers 1, 4, 7, 10 and 12. Didn't really need to erase anything at all.

Zip through the questions on side one, flip the page, zip through those. A couple of hitches and educated guesses. Which Carolina is that, North or South? Compote or confit? What means "schadenfreude"? Was finished even before the five minute reminder. Way too fast, I think, and push myself to review everything very carefully. Didn't change a thing. And time's up. Put the test back in the envelope, pass it back, pass in the test paper, and now wait.

The rest of the audience is seated and we are entertained by Paul Mercurio. He is good. Very adept at the audience interaction and ad libs on the situation. We get coached on being loud and laughing hard. He tells us that he'll announce the names of all who passed between tapings. And finally, the taping is about to begin.

I won't go into too many details, but there was a certain localness about the couples. It was pretty obvious where they had done their auditions. All were good-looking. Some big height differentials between the two members of some couples, in both directions. The interaction between the guy and gal of each couple was probably revealing about their relationship. No incipient breakups, though. They were fun. Brides.com gave them all some great gifts specific to their wedding or marriage plans. Wouldn't have minded at least one of them myself.

Oh, for Marley's consideration. One couple was not only from NYC, but they were BOTH actors. A WE/WE/WE/WE (all the way home).

Their questions were very good. The writers did well on the stacks. There were some that I wished had been saved for me, but there were a couple where I truly hadn't a clue and was glad they weren't still around.

I'm hoarse and my hands are sore by the end of taping show one. We're handed some hard candies (throat coating and sugary energy being the intent, no doubt) between shows. And I manage to snag one of the t-shirts that get tossed into the crowd. So I have, at least, some lovely parting gifts. Meanwhile, the tapings go on, Paul comes out during breaks, but no names are being called. ("The scores are being tabulated." Yeah, sure. How long does it really take to run the fool things through the Scantron reader? Each show takes about an hour to complete.) Finally, during show three, he comes out with a list.

The first name is called, and I don't even hear his second attempt at pronunciation because it's MINE! I do a loud "YES!" with some fist pumps, and Paul compliments the reaction. Are the AP's watching? Who cares! Step two complete: I passed the test.

The multiple tester and stage mom do not get called, nor does the college student or her dad. The guy seated next to me, with whom I have been chatting during breaks, does pass. As I said, about 20 of us passed, out of maybe 70-80. Fairly high percentage.

When the final taping ends, the passers are told to stay behind while the rest of the audience leaves. We get moved to a smaller tier of benches, and one of the AP's comes by with a Polaroid camera to take our pictures. It was all very hectic, as the audience was still leaving all around us. One woman taking photos, another grabbing them and our forms to staple them together, then still others calling names for interviews. All this was going on simultaneously, so it was hard to concentrate on any one thing. I made sure to congratulate anyone who came near me for their photos or to wait their turn.

I get called by one of the guys, Adam, short hair, big glasses. I don't recall all of the interview, but he actually did look at my form, which is more than the AP at my 2001 interview did. I'm quick, animated, I get in a comment on the Red Sox and how I never watch series-deciding games, especially seventh games, and then it's over. I shook hands with him both before and after, thanked him afterwards, and headed out. Asked where my bags had ended up, and so got to interact with another AP or two. One named Maggie had custody, and was glad I showed up, because with the audience mostly gone, she was worried that someone had left without their luggage. Step three complete: do well at the interview and leave thinking that I've got a chance. (The exact opposite was true at the 2001 interview.) No idea how anyone else did, though, or if anyone got called aside for a second interview.

Into the street, into a taxi, and to the airport at last. On the way, another good omen. A limo pulls out in front of us with the license plate MVLIMO34. The MVL part catches my eye immediately, and I take the coincidence as a positive sign. Mike, thank you for the GC and I hope things continue to improve for you.

So now, it's time for the mailbox watch. I've done my part. Now it's out of my hands. At least I got the chance to try this year. And I had fun. Not too shabby.

Thank you once again for all the good wishes. I appreciate the support, and hope you can all make it to my taping. (Think positive, think positive, none of those negative waves, Moriarty.)

gs

gsabc wrote:
Into the street, into a taxi, and to the airport at last. On the way, another good omen. A limo pulls out in front of us with the license plate MVLIMO34. The MVL part catches my eye immediately, and I take the coincidence as a positive sign.

This sounds excellent, Mr. gs. You were so excited about it all that you missed another good omen, though. "MV LIMO." MV. Meredith Vieira.

Good boy. Have a cookie!

gsabc wrote: Oh, for Marley's consideration. One couple was not only from NYC, but they were BOTH actors. A WE/WE/WE/WE (all the way home).

A WE/WE/WE/WE team!?

Would someone please prepare a tranquilizer for me now?

MarleysGh0st wrote:Oh, yeah, while I may hold the record among BBs, I know there are NYC locals (apparently without jobs) who can make much bigger nuisances of themselves with the APs than I do!

You will always be my #1 nuisance, Marley. All the other nuisances I can get rid of with a little Preparation H...

_TPTB_ wrote: You will always be my #1 nuisance, Marley.

I'll always have that accomplishment to look back on, then.

I am roting for you - Meredith's limo is a very good sign!

Gordon,

I auditioned the Monday after you, and thought I'd mention how my experience was different--We were only allowed to take the test AFTER the taping. We were shuffled into the cafeteria to take the test and wait for the results. No Paul in site. They called out passing numbers, not names. Like you, I was called first, thank goodness! Oh, and we had the same test. I have to admit to a bit of schadenfreude when one oif the women at my table, who was arguing that Edwards was the senator from SC and that medial tibia stress syndrome was tennis elbow, did not pass. I would say about 15 or 20 passed from a largish crowd of over 200 people. I was at the 3:30 session.

I was flabbergasted that so many men complained that they had no idea what color periwinkle was!

Odyssey wrote:Gordon,

I auditioned the Monday after you, and thought I'd mention how my experience was different--We were only allowed to take the test AFTER the taping. We were shuffled into the cafeteria to take the test and wait for the results. No Paul in site.

Yeah, the early taping group takes the written before the tapings, then has to wait for the scores to be announced when the tapings are (nearly) done. The later group does it all afterwards, in the cafeteria.

Paul Mercurio is the warm-up comedian. He'll read the results for the first group, but his day is over when the tapings are done. He doesn't have any other involvement in the audition process.

Oh, how about that--I wonder why the difference between early and late sessions?

Oh yes, I know who Paul was--I was just saying he wasn't around in the cafeteria during the exam.

He only told us where he was headlining next about 10 times. He said he had gone to law school at Georgetown and practiced corporate law in DC before turning comedian. He also mentioned writing for The Daily Show and being from Rhode Island and having a son that plays little league. I've exhausted my Paul Mercurio knowledge now.

Odyssey wrote:Oh, how about that--I wonder why the difference between early and late sessions?

I think it's a timing thing. They can bring the first group in early to take the written test before the tapings begin, but they want to change the audience and get the second set of episodes taping as quickly as possible.

Odyssey wrote:He only told us where he was headlining next about 10 times. He said he had gone to law school at Georgetown and practiced corporate law in DC before turning comedian. He also mentioned writing for The Daily Show and being from Rhode Island and having a son that plays little league. I've exhausted my Paul Mercurio knowledge now.

Paul was a lawyer before becoming a comedian? I don't recall him sharing that tidbit with us before!

Yes, he said it gave his mother a heart attack. He had A LOT of time to kill with us because they were having numerous technical problems on the set. We only sat through one show's taping because it took so long. Meredith said it wouldn't be fair to have us sit through another after the first took so long. I was glad. I wanted to get my hands on that test and was getting tired in that seat. They made us sit shoulder to shoulder (actually touching!) in the first row. Not comfortable!