I want to make a page where I put together various Late Show
Experiences, such as a run in with Dave, Paul, Rupert, etc., or
you were picked out of the crowd by Dave, canned hammed, camera
shots of you, ANYTHING! If you're reading this page to prepare
for you trip, come back after the trip and share it with us. Plus
let me know where you stayed, and other advice you may have. I
want to make this page a one stop source for all people attending
the show. If you have any "Late Show Experiences" or
tips you would like to share, or a web page describing your
experience please e-mail me. But for
now, read some my story or other cool "Late
Show Experiences".
November 16, 1998
This page was named one of "TV's top 10 celebrity sites" by Jeff Houck of the Tribune Media Services. I was shocked and amazed to see this while reading "The Gainesville Sun" (my local paper). Thanks to everyone who has shared their stories and visited this site!!
I've
been a David Letterman fan since his days back at NBC, and it
didn't change when he moved to CBS and the new Late Show. So this
past January, I decided to mail a postcard to the Late Show and
put my name into the 6 month waiting list for tickets. My goal
was to hopefully get tickets for the summer, so I could attend
while on hiatus from school. In April, I recieved a post card
from the Late Show stating that they had recieved my request for
tickets. Finally, in early June, I recieved two tickets for the
June 19, 1996 taping of the show. I couldn't believe that I had
tickets to my favorite show in my hands. The next logical step
was to plan a trip to New York. I went with my famlily, and we
decided to stay a week, with the Late Show on the second day of
our trip.
The day of the big show arrived. The guests on tonight were James Caan, Julie White, and singer Patti Smith. They number tickets starting at 2PM, and from other Dave fans I heard people start lining up at noon. Since this not an everyday event, we decided we would get there early for a good place in line. We arrived to the theater a little before noon. Inside the lobby was an enormous line for standby tickets. The line for standby tickets started to form at 7AM, with those first few people camping out for their place in line (That day only 8 standbys got in). Surprisingly, there were two people already in line for the 2 o'clock ticket numbering. So we stood in line as number 3 and 4. It was raining the whole day,and luckily we were under the marquee to keep us dry. A lady, who we thought worked for CBS, told the line to move towards the front of the marquee. This meant we were closer to the street, and increased our chances to be splashed by a speeding cab. Turned out the lady worked for Da Valentino, the pizza store, and I'm assuming she didn't want the line to block the store. The two people behind us line line came from Pittsburgh to see the show. They left the night before the show, and arrived in NY at 7AM. They would've gotten there sooner, but on the way, they made a wrong turned and almost ended up in Maryland. Two hours in line went by quickly. At 2PM sharp, and page came out numbered out tickets, and told us to come back at 4:15. At that time, our numbers would be called out, and we would take our place in line. We came back at 4:15, and there was a crowd of people waiting to get inside. There were people who had their tickets numbered, along with people who didn't. They told numbers 80-100 to go to the side entrance on 54th street, and numbers 1-80 to stand in line under the marquee. After everyone was in line, they let us into the lobby. I felt like were were at Disney World with the long winding lines. A page came by and told us some rules. At no point during the taping could we get up, so they reminded us numerous times to use the bathroom. Occasionaly the door to the theater would open up, we could hear Patti Smith warming up, and a blast of cold air coming out.
Finally at 5PM, they opened the doors to seat us. The first two people in line got seats to the right of Dave's desk (or stage left). There were only 3 seats in the front row, and since my brother and I were together, we sat on the second row. Our seats were awesome!! There were no seats in front of us. We were close enough to rest our feet on the stage if we were allowed. The things that first caught my attention were how small the theater seemed in person, all the lights and cameras, and how cold it was. The warm up guy, Wally, came out to tell us some rules for the taping. Then he showed a hilarious clip of Dave and Paul playing golf. He introduced the band members and they played Green Day's Basketcase. In the middle of that song, Paul pops out and joins them. Then Wally asked if we wanted to see Dave, and we responded loudly. He asked again, we responded, then Dave runs out from the back coat-less. He starts by thanking everyone who came. He talked about how he's exercising right now by jogging. He asks the crowd who wakes up at 6AM like him, and he looks up at the balcony, picks someone out and says, "Bullshit, you probably sleep in till twelve!!" It got a good reaction from the crowd. He proceeds by saying that he's lost weight, and will give anyone in the audience a canned ham if they guess his weight on the dot. He picked a lady who sat directly over my left shoulder. She guessed, which I highly doubt is his weight, 152, and he said "You're right!" and gave her a canned ham. Then he ran backstage, and the taping promptly started with the band playing the intro and Alan, the announcer, announcing the guest for the show.
During the show, I had my dream come true. I wore my orange University of Florida t-shirt, so it would be easier to point me out on crowd shots. During the monologue, Dave mentioned that before the show a woman in the audience guessed his weight. I saw the cameraman standing on stage pointing the camera in my direction. All of a sudden, I could see my big head on the monitor, and I instinctly started to point to my head as to say, "That's me!!" When I saw the show on TV that night, I saw myself on half the TV screen waving my arms like I was drowning . I think I blocked the shot of the ham lady. Oh well, it was my 3 seconds on TV, and all my friends saw me.Then during the show Dave took an audience member out to 53rd street, then Dave jumped into a taxi. The taxi ran over a puddle, and splashed the guy. The taxi really didn't splash him, instead they cut away to a shot of just the guy, and Biff threw some water on him. Other than that, Dave didn't really interact with the crowd much more. Everytime I watch the show now, I look at it differently cause I was actually there to see how they tape the show. Though I wasn't a huge fan of all the guests, I loved every minute I was there. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
A little side note if you want a souvenior from the show. I talked to a couple kids who had cue cards, and said they asked Tony "Inky" Menendez after the taping if they could get one. He said sure, and even asked them what kind they wanted (joke, guests, etc). Though when other people saw this happening, they swarmed the stage, and he stopped passing them out. So if you want to try and get one, be the first one.
Click to read some more
(from the official Late Show website)
To request tickets to The Late Show with David Letterman, send a postcard with your name, address and daytime & evening phone numbers to:
Late Show Tickets
The Ed Sullivan Theater
1697 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Please send one request per person only. Multiple requests will be discarded.
Due to the volume of ticket requests, it may not be possible to award tickets to everyone. Please be aware that the waiting time might be in excess of 9 months.
Late Show tapings are Monday through Thursday, 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM; and Thursday, 8:00PM to 9:00PM. There are no tapings on Fridays.
The theater can be quite chilly so please dress warmly. We look forward to seeing you in our studio audience.
Stand-by tickets are
available on the day of the show only by calling
(212) 247-6497 at 11:00am ET. The phones will be
answered until the allocation is gone, at which time you will
receive a recording. Only 2 tickets will be issued per
caller and the recipient must have identification to match
the name given when calling in.
Please understand that stand-by tickets do not guarantee admittance to The Late Show.
Before you leave please sign my guestbook, so I'll have an idea who came here.
You are the
Letterman fan to read this page since July 7, 1996
This page created by Benny
Hsu
Email: bhsu21@aol.com
Last updated November 16, 1998