I left the Ed about 6:45 Eastern, and haven't seen the show yet, so I might
have more to say later in the week.
Most of what Dave describes below reflects my experience, though the process is
much more efficient than in 2017. I arrived at 3:30, and once my plus one
satisfied all the COVID requirements, we were in the Ed within 20 minutes and
right to our seats (ground level, near the back and across from Joe Saylor in
the band, though we still had a fair amount of time waiting in the theater.
The staff had music piped in (mostly current hits). I can't remember who came
first, but the floor director and the warm-up guy (Paul Mercurio, who was
probably doing it in 2017) were next. Mercurio was leaning hard on the
cheerleading approach to being a warm-up comic, which can easily rub someone
the wrong way. His interactions with audience members were more entertaining.
The band came out and the crowd really responded. They played the song that
used to play over the end titles (chorus lyrics "I feel good, I feel free, I
feel fine just being me.") Stephen came out during the song, did the Q&A
thing, and then the show started around 5:30-5:40.
Due to scheduling with a guest, we did not see one of tonight's interviews,
which was previously recorded. Instead, after tonight's ending was shot, the
crew set up for a musical performance that will air at some future point. There
was a technical glitch, so they redid the performance, and that was the only
reshoot. No promos for the show were recorded either.
Best,David
On Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 03:06:47 AM PDT, 'Dave Sikula' via
TVorNotTV <tvornottv@googlegroups.com> wrote:
I have a reservation for November myself, but the last time I was there
(2017?), I screwed up the arrival time and got there just before the cutoff of
4:00 (I thought that was the time to show up).
I don't know how it is post-COVID, but then, it was far more disorganized than
Dave's LS. They kept us penned in the vestibule for a good 45 minutes before
finally letting us into the house. Even then, it was about another 45 minutes
until tape time, with not much happening. Dave's LS kept music going and the
ushers really worked to keep the audience pumped. Colbert's pre-show had dull
music and not much from the staff -- other than folding chairs in the balcony
and repeated warnings to not take photos.
The warmup guy was truly terrible, but once Batiste and the band came out,
things perked up. They were really good (probably more versatile than Paul
Shaffer's band, but the CBS Orchestra was more energetic). Colbert came out,
took some questions, and the taping went pretty much on schedule, with only a
couple of re-takes. We were out before 7:00, which allowed me to get to the
show I was seeing that evening.
I'd say to be prepared to do a lot of waiting and hope you get some good
guests. One thing you can be sure of, though: if there's a musical guest,
they'll be terrible.
--Dave Sikula
On Monday, October 31, 2022 at 1:31:59 PM UTC-7 David Bruggeman wrote:
Hello everyone,
I have tickets for Wednesday's Late Show taping. I wanted to know if there
were any burning questions and/or advice that members of the brain trust have
for someone who's only done the L.A. based late night tapings.
Best,David
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