Even though I’ve lived twenty minutes from Manhattan all my life, I can honestly say that I didn’t take advantage of all the city has to offer as much as I would have liked. This year, one of my goals is to change that. So far it’s going well!
On Wednesday, a friend and I went to a taping of The Late Show with David Letterman at the legendary Ed Sullivan Theater. The show’s employees love to tell their guests about the amazing artists who performed there in the past. During the 1960s, both the Beatles and Elvis made historic appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show right in the theater we were in!
A taping of The Late Show is incredibly exciting and interesting to watch. A comedian warmed up the crowd, and then we were treated to some great music from the CBS Orchestra. The taping actually began after Paul Shaffer and David Letterman himself were introduced.
Luckily, we happened to be watching one of the most highly anticipated shows of the year. Academy Award-nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix was returning to the show for the first time since February 2009; the last time he was there, he was almost unrecognizable and his much talked about bizarre behavior seemed to even befuddle Letterman himself. Thankfully, he is now clean-shaven, and he apologized for his behavior. It turns out that the whole interview was a hoax that was being filmed for his new movie, a mockumentary called I’m Still Here, an inside look on celebrities and the lives they live. Dave was pleased to have him back, but he was also very focused on making sure the American public knew he didn’t know anything about what happened. Letterman also actually demanded (jokingly or not) that he be paid for appearing in one of the most important parts of the movie.
Our musical guest was Tom Jones, who you or your parents may know for songs like “It’s Not Unusual” and “What’s New Pussycat?” He’s coming out with a new album, and the first single sounded really good! After the show, I looked him up on Wikipedia, and he just turned 70! I think it’s amazing that he’s still making great music decades after his biggest hits!
The two of us had a lot of fun and would definitely go back if we’re lucky enough to get another set of tickets. We were really excited to know that we witnessed one of the biggest shows of the year. The media hype surrounding Joaquin’s return was astounding and to be privy, even if just for an hour, to the answers to the questions everyone was asking made the experience that much more special.
Whether you live in New York or are just visiting, I highly recommend going to a live taping for a TV show. If The Late Show with David Letterman isn’t your favorite show, there are plenty of others that tape here, including Saturday Night Live, Live! With Regis and Kelly, The View, and The Today Show.
If you want to get tickets to The Late Show with David Letterman, you’ll need plenty of luck or a lot of persistence. My friend and I got our tickets from a charity raffle, but there are plenty of other ways to try for tickets. Just make sure you know your Letterman trivia, as they like to make sure Dave’s real fans get tickets first!
For ticket information go to: http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/tickets/.
And if you want to watch part of Joaquin Phoenix's interview:
http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/video/?pid=_mqz629gJO_voi_RgNxlKIty9vHDwlUk&vs=Default&play=true
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