|
So I meet Jenny in line for the Daily Show. They've moved the studio
conveniently to the West Side, 6 blocks from any subway, which isn't easy
to do. I get to the line 15 minutes before the doors open, but Jenny has
been there since 4:20, so we're in good position. Well, not really.
There are about 35 people with
V.I.P. passes. They'll be getting the best seats, it seems. One woman has
brought flowers for Craig. She has seen the show many times in person and
feels it's a nice thing to show her appreciation. I think she knows
someone on the staff, since she's V.I.P.
We're allowed in after the First Class passengers, as it were, into a crowded anteroom. The thing that strikes me when we walk in is how cramped the whole place feels. As we're allowed our potty break before going in (no getting out once we're stuck in the studio), they play highlights from the second anniversary special, with timely items regarding the Monica Lewinsky debacle from January onward -- including the hideous, hilarious video of her high school musical. People are jockeying for position outside the studio door, apparently not realizing that we were given numbered cards when we waited in line so it doesn't matter terribly where we hang out. I guess it's New York -- generally people are trying to protect their interests. No matter; we wound up sitting in the second row, facing Craig during much of his monologue, when he's turned to his left. A word about the set -- I mean , I know sets aren't the most durable things on the planet, but come on. This thing was quite the flimsy set. The wall of "monitors" behind Craig? Two are monitors, and they play prerecorded tapes (see if you can decide which two, and if the tapes change day-to-day). The others are photos with light shining through. Note, though, that the top left depicts the Yankees winning the 1996 World Series, so a point to the set designer who came up with that. The desk is sturdy though, but it looks like a guy made it in his shop from close by. A comic, Paul Mercurio, warmed up the crowd before taping, mostly with audience interaction -- where-are-you-from-what-do-you-do stuff. He did get to make fun of a dufus who apparently wasn't going to cheer and shout with everyone else. So he got pounded on mercilessly. The group of guys from Philly in the front row wanted to be the center of attention, and they got it by standing up for Craig when he came out. Craig motioned, mock-irritated, for them to cut it out. And whenever they said his name between taping segments, Craig made fun of them. Just like they wanted. In case you were wondering, I don't remember seeing a single person there who was black, Hispanic, or Asian, except the guy who acted as Craig's personal assistant. Anyway, we "met" Brian Unger and Craig Kilborn before the show was taped. Brian really just waved at us, and Craig was off in his own world, but it's not like we were expecting lots of handshaking. Brian apparently doesn't like to wear socks on air (they don't show anyway). Craig is at least 6 foot 5, and he's lanky. Pam Grier is a short woman. And while that is Craig's real hair, and he constantly plays with it, there seems to be less of it on top than you get to see on television. He doesn't look old though, not by a long shot. No different in front of the camera as when it's off. You'd recognize him on the street. The producer of the Lewis Black segments, and one of the co-creators were also on hand to make noise out of camera range and occasionally show up to give pointers. As for the show itself: well, it's like watching TV, only Craig does mouth exercises during the taped bits and during intermissions. There are four acts. There are no retakes. The crowd is heartily encouraged to applaud and make noise into and out opf commercials, but otherwise it's people acting naturally. Watching Comedy Central afterwards, apparently they tone us down when they don't need us so loud during the taped bits. The camera on the boom to do the winding tracking shots from a "Daily Show" monitor to Craig, to start off a couple of the acts, is rather interesting and seems to be homegrown, with the counterweight system and joystick control for the camera itself. There are two Tele-Promp-Ters in the studio. The only real disappointment came with Pam's Comedy Central promo bit. After the Five Questions (which featured sexual references dealing with an ice cream cone, no less), Pam was asked to smile and say, "Yo, this is Pam Grier, and you're watching Comedy Central, sucka!" Only she didn't want to do the Sucka! part. So it kind of flopped. But at elast we got to see a couple more minutes of Pam. Anyhow, I've babbled long enough. The show rocked, we were out before 6:45, and I came home and of course watched the show to tape it. Technically, I'm on camera during one of the boom camera's tracking shots, and I almost got to shake Craig's hand, but it just didn't happen. The V.I.P.'s got the luck. But at least I saw Craig helm the show before he cuts out in January to host the Late Late Show spot previously inhabited by Tom Snyder. Jon Stewart: if you're reading this, how about some V.I.P. tickets for January? |