Book Early! Tickets for Craig Ferguson‘s live stand up comedy performance at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut on October 8th are nearly sold out. There are only a few dozen seats left, so if you are planning to go, order your tickets now! There are only a few main floor seats left for the October 9th show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. And for the October 10th show in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, there are only 5 main floor seats left. The rest of the available seats for that show are in the upper balcony. To get your tickets to see Craig live on stage in October, visit our Live Comedy Tour Page for links and details.
Connecticut Excitement
Connecticut’s Norwalk Plus magazine has an article about Craig’s upcoming visit to the Ridgefield Playhouse on October 8th.
New CBS Station For those living in the Florida Panhandle, there is a new local CBS television station, based in Panama City. As the Panama City News Herald explains, WECP-TV is on channel 18 over the air, and can be found on channel 4 on area cable systems, where it replaces the Dothan, Alabama CBS station which had been shown in the area.
Emmy Props
Although Craig and the Late Late Show were not nominated for an Emmy this year, they were recognized with a brief video clip in the introduction to the Variety category, as the RSA’s @keepintouch0 spotted:
Video courtesy: keepintouch0
Tonight’s Guests
Monday on the Late Late Show, Monday, Craig’s guests are actor Dennis Quaid and actress Ellie Kemper. On Tuesday, watch for actor Tom Selleck and actress June Diane Raphael.
Tonight’s Guests
Sarah Paulson
More guests have been added to the list of future tapings, including Anne Heche, the previously scheduled Jeff Goldblum and Sarah Paulson. You can see the most recent update on our Guests page.
Studio 56 Stories Have you been in the audience of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson during the past month? We’d like to hear from you! Tell us what you think about the new studio, the new set, the chairs, the lights, the big red curtain and performance area for bands and comedians, the wood floors, or anything else. The rest of the robot skeleton army would like to hear your story. Just drop us a line using our Contact Us page or tweet us a link to your blog or website. Those who are planning a trip to CBS Television City in Los Angeles to see a taping of the show would enjoy hearing about what it’s like inside Studio 56.
Craig Coming to NYC
Word is slowly spreading around the New York media that Craig will be performing at Radio City Music Hall in October. WCBS-FM posted a short story recently, promoting the appearance.
World Rhino Day
Apparently, Saturday, September 22nd was “World Rhino Day.” We hadn’t heard about it but the RSA’s @hoborobot sent us an image to mark the occasion. We hope Sandra will forgive us.
Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson – Episode 1
Craig hosted seven “test shows” of the Late Late Show in the fall of 2004 as the producers and CBS tried to decide who would become the new permanent host to replace Craig Kilborn. They eventually chose CF from a talented field of candidates and on January 3rd, 2005, Craig launched the new show.
Video courtesy: mckinnism1
This Week’s Guests
Martha Plimpton
It’s another week of all-new episodes of the Late Late Show, beginning Monday with actor Dennis Quaid and actress Ellie Kemper. On Tuesday, Craig chats with actor Tom Selleck and actress June Diane Raphael. On Wednesday, watch for actor Jim Parsons and music by Dispatch. The guests on Thursday are still officially listed as “to be announced” but we see that actor Keanu Reeves and biologist Dan Riskin are scheduled for taping that day. We’ll keep you posted. And on Friday, Craig welcomes actor Michael C. Hall and actress Martha Plimpton.
Autumn Arrives
As summer turns to fall, our thoughts turn to Craig Ferguson‘s October stand up comedy tour of the northeastern US, where he’ll be appearing in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania over the course of nine days, October 5th through the 13th. Josh Robert Thompson will be opening for Craig and you can still get tickets, but time is running short in some of the smaller venues. Book early to avoid disappointment! You can find all of the show dates, times, locations and ticket links on our Live Comedy Tour page.
Ticket Contest If you are a resident of the state of New York, you could win tickets to see Craig perform his live stand up comedy show in Ithaca, NY on October 11th. The local CBS television station in Syracuse is offering the contest on its website. Again, you MUST be a resident of the state of New York to participate in this contest, per the contest rules. RSA News is not affiliated with this contest; we are just passing it along in case you would like to participate.
Late Night Reviews
The student newspaper at San Antonio’s Trinity University offers quick reviews of late night television shows, including the Late Late Show.
Make Your Own Italian
As a follow-up to her “Pin the Lotion on the Basket” game, the RSA’s @hoborobot is offering a new pinning game, where you can “Make Your Own Italian.” To that, we can only say, “What’s a comin’-a-go?”
One More for the Road
We hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s posts, featuring stories from Craig Ferguson fans from across North America who made the trip to Las Vegas to see our fearless leader perform his live stand up comedy show at the Venetian. In the audience last weekend was @colleen_byrne, who has traveled extensively around the country to see Craig perform live on the road and host the Late Late Show at CBS Television City. She has become a familiar face in the crowd and backstage. Here is her story:
[stextbox id=”custom”]Craig Having Fun Backstage
I had the great good fortune of going to Las Vegas with my friends Diane and Sue to see Craig perform the stand up set that I first saw when he worked it out in Denver in March of 2011. It’s been a wonderful treat to see the beginning of this material and how Craig’s changed it and fleshed it out over the course of the past 18 months. Both nights were excellent shows but Saturday stood out because the audience was full of energy from the start. Josh started us off with his hilarious voices, especially Robert DeNiro. Craig was on fire and made himself laugh, which as we all know, is half the battle.
On Saturday, we were lucky enough to have tickets for the meet and greet with Craig after the show. While we waited for Craig to come back out, I happened to glance across the aisle to my right. What a surprise to realize that the gentleman sitting there was none other than Craig’s good friend John Naismith. I caught his eye and told him how cool it was to see him at the show. I asked if he was having fun in Vegas and he replied, “Oh, a grrrrreat time!†in that familiar accent. He asked if we had fun and I told him we’d been at both shows and enjoyed them so much. As he walked away when the meet and greet was about to start, he turned around and with a twinkle in his eye, gave me a little wave and a smile.
The ushers set up a tall bar table right by the edge of the stage for Craig to use to sign autographs and take pictures with the faithful. We stayed seated in the front row and got to eavesdrop on Craig’s interactions with the fans. He was so polite and kind to each and every person, signing their ticket stubs or books, taking pictures, and having a little chat with some.
A Scottish couple mentioned that one of them had gone to the same technical school that Craig attended after dropping out of high school. He looked so surprised when they realized they had been at the school at the same time. When Craig asked another Scottish gentleman where he was from, it turned out that he grew up in the same town as John Naismith. The best part was hearing his natural accent come out as strong as I’ve ever heard it when he spoke with fans from the old country.
Craig was his usual kind and sweet self when we had our chat. The picture we took didn’t come out very well but that doesn’t matter to me. I’ll always remember this wonderful visit with Craig and how special it was, especially since I was there with my RSA friends.[/stextbox]
If you are attending any of Craig’s upcoming October shows in the northeastern U.S., we would be thrilled to hear your story! As you’ve seen all week, it’s fun to hear from other Craig fans about their adventures. You can send us your story and your pictures on our Contact Us page and we’ll share it with the rest of the robot skeleton army. Every time you send in your Craig-related stories, it make this fan-based website even better. Our thanks to @sarieswick, @lockofire, @Tb40Too, @sjump54, @samlefaye, @diane4mail, @pixiepict2 and @colleen_byrne for contributing their stories and photos this week!
Josh Opening for Craig
When Craig & Company hit the road in October for the next leg of his stand up comedy tour in October, the voice of Geoff Peterson, Josh Robert Thompson, will open for Craig. Josh opened for Craig in Las Vegas last weekend and has been receiving lots of praise on the tweety for his work on stage.
No Place Like Homies On Thursday night, actor DJ Qualls tweeted:
My homie @NikkiReed_I_Am is on the #LLS with my other homie @CraigyFerg tonight. Everyone tune in. (Yeah I said homie twice. I’m street)
Birds-Eye View
What happens when a seagull steals your camera while it’s running? As a French tourist discovered, you get a unique view of San Francisco Bay. Thanks to the RSA’s @SecretNakedHobo for the link!
Video courtesy: Nathalie Rollandin
Tonight’s Guests
Friday on the Late Late Show, Craig welcomes back actor Neil Patrick Harris and we’ll see a performance from Canadian actor/comedian Gerry Dee.
Craig on Extra
Most of the Hollywood gossip shows have a hard time finding Craig Ferguson since he is rarely out hitting the LA party scene.. But because Craig was at the CBS fall season launch party earlier this week, he got cornered by the folks at Extra, and talked about politics, guests on the show and his upcoming stand up comedy show at Radio City Music Hall.
Thanks to the RSA’s @bgrhubarb, @SexyCraigFerg, @normaapril and others for the Extra link! Tickets are still available for Craig’s show in New York, along with all of his live shows in the northeastern United States in October. You can find dates, times, locations and links to tickets on our Live Comedy Tour page.
Last-Minute Guest For two weeks, the CBS schedule showed Sophia Bush as the only guest scheduled for Wednesday’s show and the advanced taping listings showed no sign of him, but actor/comedian Jeff Garlin popped up as a nice surprise on our screens Wednesday night. The very funny Garlin is returning as a regular on the series Arrested Development this season. We also got to see on stage the voice of Sandra the Rhino, actress Dana DeLorenzo, playing the CBS censor.
Pin the Lotion on the Basket
If you’ve always wanted to play “Pin the lotion on the basket,” you can now print and cut out the necessary game pieces, thanks to the RSA’s @hoborobot, who has thoughtfully designed both:
Grant Goes Gangnam Style
As the RSA’s @kstene spotted, even the MythbustersGrant Imahara knows how to bust a move, gangnam style, in the latest parody of the K-pop video sensation.
Video courtesy: Revision3
Tonight’s Guests
Thursday on the Late Late Show, Craig chats with actress Nikki Reed and author Mitch Albom. Reed tweeted:
Heading to @CraigyFerg ! I’m excited! This is my first time on his show! Tell me what to expect…?
And Craig replied:
Creepiness mostly.
On Friday, watch for actor Neil Patrick Harris and comedian Gerry Dee.
Guest Update
Along with Wednesday’s surprise of Jeff Garlin, also confirmed as upcoming guests on the Late Late Show is the band Disptach. For the most up-to-date listings, please see our Guests page.
Paying it Forward When one of the RSA’s most loyal and dedicated skeletons, the always thoughtful @bgrhubarb was under the weather recently, she realized she would not be able to travel to Las Vegas last weekend as she had planned. Instead, she was able to make sure her VIP tickets to see Craig Ferguson at the Venetian got into the hands of another longtime Craig fan, the delightful @pixiepict2. After a mix up with the tickets that resulted in Pixie and her party being asked to sit in different seats than originally intended, she got to see the show and meet Craig afterward. Here is her story:
[stextbox id=”custom”]Adventure Over Safety
September 13, 2012 was a long, but adventurous and fantastic day. We (my family) had been given VIP tickets to Craig Ferguson’s show at the Venetian in Las Vegas by a wonderful RSA person @bgrhubarb. These, of course, included the “meet and greet” with Craig after the show.
The day started early (7 am) because mom had to work that day until 4 pm. My son (who had just turned 18) and I spent this time getting packed and ready. My son was going to wear a suit to Craig’s show. A suit! I wore black and plaid outfit. My mother wears business casual attire, so she had the easiest time with her dressing decision. We ended up on the road a wee bit late, but not very late. We had plenty of time, or so we thought. Between here and there is a particular bridge that is at an unspeakable height. I was ordered by my mother not to scream when we had to cross it. It’s the Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, which cuts off about thirty minutes of your trip to Vegas. If you miss the I-215 exit, heading for The Orleans… well, to put it briefly, your shortcut plan is screwed. You just keep plowing away until you finally end up on the traffic-ridden Las Vegas strip, trying desperately to get to Tropicana in time for a shower and change after check in, then back on the Strip to the Venetian for Craig’s show.
By the time we made it to The Orleans (where we stayed the night) we were down to an hour before the show. You would not believe how quickly you can move when it comes to seeing a Craig Ferguson stand up show that includes a “meet and greet!” We rushed to the truck because there was no time waiting for the hotel shuttle to get us to the show. We finally arrived at the Venetian and had to rush to the showroom. The showroom is nowhere near the entrance so there we three were just about galloping through to get there. Please keep in mind that I was wearing ‘Pin Up’ girl shoes this entire time. After some hallways, tortuous stairs, and some slick turns we were finally there. We had made it!
The ‘Will Call’ staff was very pleasant. However, there was a problem… one of the three tickets wouldn’t print out! Murphy’s Law was pulling trip wires yet again. We stood there, waiting for what seemed like forever being as patient as we could for the third ticket. Eventually a gentleman came out of nowhere and a handwritten the third ticket and said that the real one would be brought to our seats and to please follow the usher inside. I was beginning to think that it was going to take an act of God to get in to see Craig’s performance.
The lady who ushered us into the show fashionably late as we were suddenly stopped us in a mid-aisle and in dismay told us that there were people sitting in our seats! She double checked our tickets and proceeded down to the people who were sitting in our seats who showed them their tickets. Amidst this confusion we were enjoying the show and waiting to see what Craig was going to do and say next. Of course we were laughing at his wonderful jokes while trying to keep our patience. We were ushered in and out a couple of times while the staff was trying to straighten out the confusion. This made me feel badly for those having to put up with our predicament as well. The usher finally sat us in three seats almost directly behind the people in our seats and this was fine with us. We had a great view and got to enjoy the rest of the show uninterrupted! Murphy’s Law had disappeared for the evening.
Craig’s performance was nothing short of fantastic, hilarious, and certainly not politically correct! Who would expect anything else? Between high-stepping Nazis and a high-stepping Angelina Jolie with a burglar sack in the middle of the night, and the great Drew Carey joke, we laughed until we just about cried. We were all sorry when the show was over. His shows are never long enough. We could have sat there all night listening to Craig and laughing with his wonderful sense of humor!
The manager found us after Craig had left the stage and the lights came on (luckily because I was smoking an electronic cigarette which he thought was real) and explained the problem to us through many apologies. He also explained to us that though the people sitting in our seats were allowed to remain in them throughout the show, we were still going to get to meet Craig, get autographs on our tickets and my copy of American On Purpose, as well as get a picture with him.
Craig was wonderful to meet. I am not a tall person, or even close to being tall. I know that I’m short, but Craig sure made me feel like a midget! He is extremely nice and was even signed one of the tickets to @bgrhubarb saying “Get well soon†since she hasn’t been feeling well and that was how we were able to see his show. All in all, our Craig experience reminded me of what he says in his book about “choosing adventure over safety.â€
This was our first time seeing Craig’s stand up show live, but it will not be our last![/stextbox]
CBS Party
Craig attended a CBS party Tuesday night, to celebrate the launch of the new fall television season. He tweeted:
Nonesuch Records and Perez Hilton talked about Lianne La Havas and her appearance on Monday’s show. And Rolling Stone reported on Melissa Etheridge and her appearance on Tuesday night, backed up by only her guitar.
Ellen Reads Bridger’s Tweet
One of Craig’s production assistants on the Late Late Show, the hilariously gawky redheaded Bridger Winegar, sends out some funny tweets. And as the RSA’s Ruth noticed, Ellen Degeneres read one of his tweets on her show last Friday. Ruth writes:
She didn’t know how to pronounce his name, and didn’t mention his affiliation with the Late Late Show: “If you’re behind someone at an ATM at night, let them know you’re not a threat by gently kissing their neck.”
Video courtesy: Ellen
Tonight’s Guests Wednesday on the Late Late Show, Craig’s guest is actress Sophia Bush, plus the CBS censor. LLS Producer Michael Naidus tweeted:
Meet the CBS executive who censors our show + @SophiaBush talks guns, sharks, hiking, and fake British accents. #TonightOnFerguson
On Thursday, Craig welcomes actress Nikki Reed and author Mitch Albom.
Guest Update
Added to the list of future guests for tapings are June Diane Raphael, Kelsey Grammer, Chelsea Handler and Allen Stone. For the most up-to-date listings, please see our Guests page.
Vegas Fun
When Craig Ferguson performs his live stand up comedy show in Las Vegas, as he does roughly every two years, it gives fans a chance to see his work on stage. It also gives VIP ticket holders a chance to meet him briefly backstage. One fan who has met Craig on several occasions is the RSA’s @diane4mail, who sent us her story:
[stextbox id=”custom”]A Delightful and Hilarious Surprise
Following Craig’s killer show at the Venetian, I was thrilled to get a chance to talk with Craig briefly at the Meet & Greet this past Saturday night. After @Sjump54 had her criminally wonderful meeting with Craig it was my turn.
I excitedly stepped up to Craig and brought my paper back copy of Between the Bridge and the River for him to sign. I have two hardback copies but I thought he might find it amusing that I had taken notes and made comments throughout this copy of his amazing work of incredible and magical fiction. He put his arm around me and our picture was taken. He put his hand on the cover of the book and said, “It’s a dream maker.†I agreed and told him I had written in it when I read it for our book club discussion.
He flipped through it and looked at page 48. Ignoring my comments of “genius†and “like Craig†he noticed that I had circled “Boom Boom†and had written “what?†Craig asked, “You don’t know what this means?†I said no. He then said, “I want you to Google Basil Brush.†He said something about it being a character of some type. I assumed it was a literary character I did not know. (In the excitement of the moment, it is hard to remember his exact words) He seemed quite amused that we had read the book for our book club.
After Craig had a sweet conversation with @Colleen_Byrne we said thank you and goodbye and ran off to relive our encounter. I had forgotten the name of the character and we tried Googling several “B Bash†names to no avail. I was thrilled when I woke up the next morning with “Basil Bosche†in my head (close enough).
After my flight home the next morning I Googled “Boom Boom Basil Boshe†and found “Boom Boom-Basil Brush.†What a hilarious and delightful surprise Craig had given me! Another lovely insight into his past childhood influences that helped shape who he is today.
Thank you Craig! You never fail to surprise and delight your skellies.[/stextbox]
DTNTBS Back on Netflix
The RSA’s Rolf reminds us that after being gone for a few months because of cable television agreements, Craig’s stand up comedy special Does This Need To Be Said? is once again available on Netflix.
Sunset at Television City
On his way out of the office on Monday night, Late Late Show Producer Michael Naidus paused to take a pretty sunset photo at CBS Television City.
Basil Brush
As @Diane4mail mentioned in her story, here is an example of Basil Brush:
Video courtesy: Starfire250Productions
Tonight’s Guests
Tuesday on the Late Late Show, it’s a very full show with actor John Goodman, actor Arjay Smith and music by Melissa Etheridge, who had been scheduled to appear on the show nearly a year ago and was finally able to return. On Wednesday, Craig chats with actress Sophia Bush.
Tickets for Craig Ferguson‘s live stand up comedy performance at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut on October 8th are nearly sold out. There are only a few dozen seats left, so if you are planning to go, order your tickets now! There are only a few main floor seats left for the October 9th show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. And for the October 10th show in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, there are only 5 main floor seats left. The rest of the available seats for that show are in the upper balcony. To get your tickets to see Craig live on stage in October, visit our Live Comedy Tour Page for links and details.
For those living in the Florida Panhandle, there is a new local CBS television station, based in Panama City. As the Panama City News Herald explains, WECP-TV is on channel 18 over the air, and can be found on channel 4 on area cable systems, where it replaces the Dothan, Alabama CBS station which had been shown in the area.
