I recently went to a live taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. It was the first time I went to a live taping of a TV show. It was a great experience with a lot of clapping, cheering, and fake laughing! Since I am from New York, which has new shows and plays going on around the city all the time, I have the wonderful privilege of being surrounded by performances in every possible way, even when I may not want it (like those times I almost get kicked in the face by subway performers, true story). I would really recommend that if you live in a city where a talk show or play or any other sort of live show is happening, go! Try to snatch a ticket for yourself and a friend, family member, special someone, dog, or literally anyone or anything you love. If you are someone, like me, that loves watching shows and performances, you will enjoy yourself no matter how popular or unpopular the show is or who the guests or actors are. I certainly had loads of fun at The Late Show taping and learned a few things I wanted to share.
If you have ever wondered what it's like to go to a live taping for anything or experience behind the scenes of a talk show, you don't have to wonder anymore! Here is what it was like to go to a live taping of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert:
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1. The tickets are free!
The tickets are free. I repeat: FREE,every college student's favorite word.
You are probably wondering how people get tickets to such a highly watched show. It is a similar process as getting tickets for a concert. Just like a site such as TicketMaster, tickets for a talk show are found on a specific website called 1iota.com where you could see which days they are filming and which days are sold out or not. You would have to get tickets early because tickets do sell out quickly. It's pretty unlikely that you find tickets the same week you go to the show. The difference between talk show tickets and concerts is that most concerts cost money, while talk shows are free! I don't know the pricing situation for talk shows filmed in LA or other locations, but I know that tickets for talk shows such as The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert filmed in NYC are completely free! You just have to score the tickets and you are good to go. So if you are a fellow NYC student or will be visiting NYC, you can add "going to a talk show taping" to your list of things to do here!
2. The jokes are funnier on TV.
I am not saying that Stephen Colbert is actually fake af and not a funny guy at all. He is a hilarious comedian and one of the realest out there. What I mean is that witnessing him read the jokes off of a teleprompter literally in front of me just made me physically see how planned and in a way, "fake" the show is. He does this every single day, so the way he films it and repeats the routine is normal to him. Before coming to the show, of course I knew that the content was written beforehand and performed in front of the audience by reading a teleprompter, but as an audience member, clearly and physically seeing him say the jokes off of a screen made them seem less funny than they are on TV. I know the jokes must be prepared and practiced beforehand, but just seeing the process happen in the studio with him front of my eyes as opposed to in my den on my TV, some of the jokes just looked sort of inauthentic and overly prepared. It was funny, but a little fake. Don't worry Colbert, it's not you, it's me.
3. The set is cooler in person.
This minion was low-key me when I saw the set in person:
Then this was low-key me when Stephen Colbert came out:
4. The show is actually way shorter than you think.
The show was sadly shorter than I had thought it would be. The ads on TV make it seem like it goes on for so long, but in reality, it is only 40 minutes long. There's the intro, monolog, interviews, musical guest (if there is one), and closing. It was shorter than expected, but very fun while it lasted!
5. The show is great even if the guests may not be of your interest.
The thing with a talk show is that you have to get tickets early. That means that when you get your tickets, you most likely will not know who the guests for the show you will go to will be. It might turn out to be that you do not know who any of the guests are or might not be interested in the guests. Trust me, that does not mean the show will be horrible and boring. As I said before, the show is shorter than you think it will be. The guests are only there for a small amount of time, while the host is the main entertainer. If you don't like the guests going to the show, remember you will be surrounded by the host! You will get to experience hilarious moments from the host like this:
and major Trump jokes:
6. Depending on your seats, you might actually get to be on TV.
If you are trying to get on TV somehow, go to a talk show! The camera pans out onto the crowd very often during the show. The crowd is shown at the beginning of the show when the host comes out, during transitions to and from commercials, and at the end of the show when the host leaves. I actually found myself in the crowd in the end of the show! I was barely seen because I was in the back of the crowd and I was sort of hidden behind a bigger person in front of me, but I did see myself... haha! Many crowd members get to be on TV, so there is definitely a chance you could if you go to the show!
This was definitely a fun experience that I will never forget! Glad I took advantage of one of the privileges of the "NYC college student" life. Thanks to Stephen Colbert and the crew at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for putting on such a great show and brightening up my week!
