With a little bit of instruction-following and a lot of luck, I managed to score tickets to see a live taping of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
I’d been putting my name in the hat for about a month but heard nothing until last Saturday morning. Apparently an additional section of seats opened up so I jumped at the chance and headed into the NYC the following day, the Oscars be damned.
I’d been to a few live tapings of morning talk shows before, but never to something I actually cared about and let me tell you the experience did not disappoint. Here’s some of my takeaways:
- 30 mins of laughter is good for the body and soul.
- I think it may have been more fun to see it live than watch it at home, only because you’re surrounded by a lot of other people who are also enjoying themselves. I typically watch Last Week Tonight in my pajamas, so it’s usually a much more mellow affair.
- At the other live tapings I’d been to episodes were shot pretty disjointedly with a lot of stopping and starting in between segments. That was not the case with the episode of Last Week Tonight I witnessed. Obviously there was some stuff pre-taped but once the opening sequence came on, it was go go go from there. It was all very impressive.
- The set was bigger than I thought it would be. I mean I guess if you’re going to have a unicorn walk onto set or have a breakdancing Abraham Lincoln, some space is required.
- Everyone at CBS Studios was awesome. I’m sure wrangling people is a pain, but it was a super positive and upbeat experience all the way around.
- Puppets are sweet, even live, the magic was not ruined. I suspect during one of the pre-taped packages the puppeteers slid under the desk, but I can’t confirm that either way.
- T-shirt cannons are terrifying in smaller spaces. Before we got started a couple of shirts were launched into the audience and while I think a human arm could have handled the task, the cannon certainly added to the fun, but boy are they powerful and loud. Don’t get me wrong I still threw my arms up in hopes of coming away with some free swag.
For tickets to a live taping of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver visit: http://www.lastweektickets.com/
