The Unfiltered Ramblings of a DVR Addict

(The following is a guest post by Terry Morawski. Click here to read his blog, and he’s @morate on Twitter.)

March 5, 2009, I got to attend a taping of The Late Show with David Letterman. Guests that night were Jon Stewart and U2. This post is divided into two sections, first my experience on the show and second how to get tickets. Enjoy!

Part 1 – The Experience

First, I’ve tried several times to get tickets, so I could hardly believe when I was called by the show that they were going to fill  my  ticket request. Second, I logged on later to find out that the night I would be visiting would be the final show of a one-week stand by U2 to support their new album, No Line on the Horizon. The other guest was Jon Stewart. I’m an avid Daily Show watcher, so this was great news. I was pumped.

Per our instructions by Paul(from Letterman), my friend Rob(@exit56) and I showed up outside the Ed Sullivan Theater around 2 p.m. (We were about ten minutes early, and it’s worth it.) We were standing in line with a woman(biggest U2 fan ever!) and her mother from Chicago who had flown in without tickets(!) to try to get into the show. They were able to get tickets through standby that morning. She was very excited. She kept jumping out of line as the band members were arriving via the side door on 53rd Street. A huge crowd of fans, curious onlookers, and professional autograph hounds had gathered to get access to the band. U2 arrived seperatedly – first The Edge, Adam, Larry, and finally Bono(more on this in a minute).

Before Bono arrived, they began taking us into the theater to pick up our tickets. We were in the front of the line, so this only took about 15 minutes to get done. Then, they sent us on our way and said to be back at 3:30. They told us the taping was to begin at 4:30. We walked out into the street trying to figure out what to do with ourselves for the next hour or so. Then Bono arrived…

Despite the large crowd and the fact that 53rd is an open, public street – Bono happily chatted with fans, took pictures and signed memorabilia for 15 minutes before going inside. In doing this, he worked his way down an entire line that had formed. I was very impressed with his calm, friendly demeanor in the midst of all the chaos. One fun moment was when a girl in a car that was driving by noticed Bono standing in the street. She hopped out of her car, screamed and gave him a hug. He smiled and laughed and enjoyed the moment, as well. I’m sure it was a highlight of her day. Once Bono was gone, we wandered around the corner to McGee’s Pub for a Guinness(what else?). I’ve now learned McGee’s was the inspiration for McLaren’s from How I Met Your Mother, a fav show. Staff was friendly and it was a great experience.

We were back in line, ordered by numbers they had written on our tickets. A little after 3:30, they packed us into the lobby of the Ed Sullivan theater for about 20 minutes of instructions and standing. The interns giving us instructions were funny and helped the time pass a little quicker. I got in trouble once for having my phone out(they really don’t like phones and cameras there. really.) Our instructions were mainly to laugh loudly and often to encourage Dave and the guests. All this encouragement was somewhat unnecessary, as most of us were more than a little pumped to see U2.

Right about 4 p.m., they walked us in and sat us in the theater. Rob and I were seated in the third row directly in front of Dave’s desk. The center of the stage, where Dave delivers his monologue and Bono would later be singing, was about 20 feet from our seats. Not too shabby. The theater is much smaller than it looks on TV. The bottom section is little more than 10 rows deep and probably 40 seats wide. The mezzanine has just a few rows. This is just to say that it is not big, and any seat is really a good seat.

First, comedian Eddie Brill came out to warm up the audience. He was funny and brief, again encouraging us to laugh a lot and have a good time. Then he introduced Paul and the band who came out and jammed to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ “The Impression That I Get.” Paul and the band are very good. Even warming up, they sounded excellent. Next, Dave came out for about 5 minutes to talk to the audience. This is where he gets his material for in-jokes during the show. He encouraged us to invest in miniature golf and made fun of a girl’s leopard boots in the front row. It seemed as soon as Dave was there, he was gone and then announcer Alan Kalter started the show…

Dave ran out and started his monologue. He really played off the audience and commonly looked away from the camera for reaction. Then he moved over to his desk. Interestingly, there is such a crowd around Dave’s desk that many in the audience have to watch the interview portions on monitors placed throughout the audience. We were again lucky in our seats that we had a clear shot of Dave and (if leaning to the right), a clear shot of his guests.

The Top Ten List was a taped group about the World Baseball Classic. This was funny, and also I learned that day there was a World Baseball Classic(I’m a hockey fan, sorry!).

Jon Stewart was the first guest. He talked about his family, and current events. During the commercial break, he pulled out his iPhone and showed pictures to Dave. It made me think that Stewart would make a great replacement for Dave, whenever that day comes. In the introduction, Dave referred to Comedy Central as the Cartoon Network. Har-har.

Next, Dave interviewed U2. From the start of the show until the interview, there was a buzzing of stagehands and engineers attempting to set out four chairs, instead of the usual two and a stage extension. They brought out different, newer chairs and then carried them away. Then they brought them back again. I’m sure U2 appreciated all the concern about the chairs. Bono led off with a joke about being the inspiration of The Beatles. Adam took a stab at “wimpy” guitar players needing six small strings, as opposed to the four big, thick strings of a bass.(This was a jab related to The Edge’s improvised joke the night before in the monologue about Sting.) Larry talked about how the group formed. Bono told a story about accidentally marching with the Stalinists on their visit to play when the wall came down. It was a good, natural interview.

Then they set up and U2 played. They played Beautiful Day for the show, then played Vertigo just for the crowd after the “cameras were off.” I looked over at Paul and the band during U2 and they were rocking out. I mean, dancing and singing along. I’ve been to a ton of concerts, and I’ve seen U2 twice before, but it was very special to see them in that venue and of course, that close. Bono equally worked to get the crowd going and did his standard, fun mugging for the camera. During the song, he also made several references to Joey Ramone – who also had a street named after him, as U2 had done earlier in the week.

Overall, the experience of the show was great. It seems to go by very quickly when you are in there. Everything is done in real time(commercial breaks, etc.), but it still makes for a very quick hour. Following the show, Rob and I stood on the street in front of the Sullivan Theater wondering what you are supposed to do to follow that. There was no good answer, so we just had dinner.  (Huge props to the amazing fish-n-chips lunch we had at A Salt & Battery, who are  known for beating Bobby Flay on his Throwdown show, and the Italian dinner at Da Nico.

Part 2: How to Get Letterman Tickets

1. ARE YOU DAVE’S NEPHEW? Do you know Dave, or a Late Show staffer? I’d try that first.

2. STANDBY: Check with the show, but the day I attended you could stand in line to be put on a standby list. You had to do this in person between 9:30 and Noon. There was no guarantee, and basically you just have to wait on your phone to ring. I know of people who have been unsuccessful at this, but hey, my linemate from Chicago got tickets the day of the U2 show this way. I’d only do this if it’s a last minute thing.

3. DUMB LUCK: Late Show staffers wander the streets near the theater on the day of the show handing out flyers to get tickets. Several of these people showed up for the U2 show, so apparently they do this every time. (They are very intent on filling the audience, and this is one surefire way to do it.)

4. INTERNET: Fill out the form on Dave’s Web site. Next, you wait. They called me about 10 days before the show. The staffer will guarantee(for sure!) that you are going to be there, and get the name of everyone who is attending. Then, to be sure you are a “fan” of the show, they ask you a trivia question. My question was – who owns the deli around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater? Then they give you instructions on what to do. I understand they also accommodate large groups, also.

Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a copy of Head Case: Season 1 on DVD.