Seeing the Late Late Show
We always invite our readers to send us their stories of seeing Craig Ferguson live on his stand up comedy tour or during a taping of the Late Late Show in Los Angeles. The RSA’s @pinkbirdie48840 recently attended a week of shows in the new Studio 56, and tells us about her adventure.
[stextbox id=”custom”]I just spent a week in LA seeing tapings of TLLS and had the most wonderful week ever! I’m a small town Wisconsin farm girl, now living in Michigan. I’m working on completing my “bucket list”, and one of the items on the list is to meet Craig Ferguson. I didn’t get to meet him last week, but I did have a great time anyway!
I flew out to LA on Sunday, October 28th and got the scare of my life riding in a shuttle van on the 405 from LAX to my hotel. It was 9pm on a Sunday evening and the traffic was crazy! The shuttle dropped me off at my hotel on Fairfax, Farmer’s Daughter, right across the street from the CBS studios. I chose the hotel based on location and it turned out to be an awesome decision on my part. The hotel is a renovated motel, turned into a “boutique hotel.” I thought the food was excellent and I strongly recommend the mac & cheese there. It’s awesome!
Monday morning, my first order of business was to check out my surroundings. I had a nice breakfast at the hotel restaurant, “Tart,” then headed across the street to the Farmers Market and the Grove shopping mall. This is where various views in the opening sequence of the Late Late Show were shot. Of course I had to take pictures of these spots, to prove that I had been there. I was looking like a typical tourist and I didn’t care, because that’s what I was: A tourist! I shopped for souvenirs for friends back home. At the Grove, I wandered right into a taping of Extra with Mario Lopez. I didn’t see any stars wandering around, but did see a lot of trophy wives, strutting their stuff.
Deciding that I had enough for the moment, I headed back to my hotel for a quick nap before the taping of the Late Late Show that afternoon.Before heading for California, I did my homework and scanned the 1iota.com website on a daily basis, waiting for the shows to be announced for the week I was going to be in LA. Once the tickets were available, I requested tickets for the whole week. Monday was granted immediately and I was put on the waiting list for the rest of the week. After about a week, Tuesday was granted as well. I just kept my fingers crossed for Wednesday and Thursday.
I got there 1 hour before the time on my ticket, hoping for a good seat. I did this every day and it worked to my advantage. Monday I was in the front row, and the rest of the week I was in the second row. Alas, as much as I wanted to sit in Lesbian Row, I was not going to be granted that wish. The audience wrangling crew is a wonderful group. They are helpful and patient and Ryan is hilariously funny! After Monday, they recognized me the next three days with a “Hey, you’re back!” There was not a word from him Chunky B, the warm up comedian as he handed me candy as I entered the studio each day.
I should have written down the guests that I saw, and when, but I thought I’d be able to remember. Now sitting here, I can’t come up with all the names or when I saw them. I can tell you that I saw shows that aired on October 30th and 31st, November 1st and 2nd, and shows that will air on November 15th and 19th. I do know that I saw Jay Leno, Regis Philbin, Rashida Jones, Alton Brown, Michael Sheen and Joel McHale.
After Tuesday’s taping, I received an email that indicated I had been granted a ticket for Thursday’s show, so Wednesday was the only show that I still did not have a ticket to. I went Wednesday and stood in line anyway, with my waiting list status, hoping I’d get lucky. I was there early, as usual, and when they came around asking to see our tickets, I said I didn’t have one and that I was on the waiting list. The gentleman behind me said, “You’re with me! My friends bailed on me and I have extra tickets!” Holy crackers! I felt like I had just won the lottery!
I did have a close encounter with Josh Robert Thomson (the voice of Geoff Peterson) while waiting outside the studio on Wednesday. I said, “Hi” to him and he said, “Hi” back, after recovering from the shock of someone recognizing him! I also talked to Chris, the show’s stage manager. I told Chris that I missed the musical numbers and he said to email Craig to let him know. I said, “No way! Craig hates being told what to do! You tell him!”
While standing in line all week, I met some of the nicest people from all over the US. Some were CraigyFerg fans, some were fans of that day’s guest. On Thursday, I met a couple of ladies from Pennsylvania who were rabid fans like me! Everyone was super friendly and we kept each other entertained for the couple of hours we were in line waiting for the show. I enjoyed every single taping, and watched in awe as Craig performed his magic. I was impressed with how businesslike he was (usually!) between segments. The shows went by so quickly. On Wednesday and Thursday, I even caught some of the candy Craig threw into the audience.
On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, I did the Hollywood bus tour, checking out all the famous sites, taking pictures like a good tourist. I did not see any stars while out and about. On Thursday, my last full day in LA, I went back to the Grove/Farmers Market and while there, a production assistant came up to me and asked if I would be willing to be in the crowd behind Mario Lopez while he taped Extra. I agreed, and can be seen in the episode that aired that night. They also gave me an Extra t-shirt!
I left LA early Friday, after another hair raising shuttle ride to the airport. While I don’t think I could live in LA permanently, I would like to visit again, and I’m sure that I will want to see more tapings of the Late Late Show in the future.[/stextbox]
Postcards to St. Louis
One of Wednesday’s guests will be Carrie Fisher, who spoke recently with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about Star Wars, her books and more.
RZA Rocks
Wednesday’s other guest is actor RZA, once best known as part of the Wu Tang Clan, a group Craig’s mother enjoyed. Now, he has made the jump to directing with the film The Man with the Iron Fists, as the Los Angeles Times reports.
Just Being ScottishEntertainment Tonight has a brief clip of Craig talking about the making of the Disney/Pixar film Brave, which is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray on November 13th.
Video courtesy: EntertainmentTonightTonight’s Guests
Tuesday on the Late Late Show, the re-run fairy visits with the October 2nd episode featuring actress Mindy Kaling and comedian Carrot Top. Because it is Election Day, the encore show may be broadcast very late or even pre-empted “in your region” due to election coverage from CBS and your local news. New episodes resume Wednesday, when Craig welcomes actress Carrie Fisher and actor RZA.
Guest Update
The guest listings have been updated through November 16th, adding actress Naomie Harris to this Thursday’s show. You can see the most complete and up-to-date listings on our Guests page any time.
