The Tonight Show with Jay Leno 01/08/2014

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

January 8th, 2014

The Tonight Show is an icon of late night television. I knew this had to be one of my first stops for touring the live studio audiences circuit. It's really sad to know that Jay Leno will be retiring and Jimmy Fallon is moving the show to New York. BOOOOOOOOOOOO!

TICKETS:

I requested tickets through http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/tickets/ and the form requires you to indicate three dates that you want to attend. I just entered some random dates as any time was fine with me! I believe I received my #2 choice. 

THERE IS ONLY ONE TYPE OF TICKET- IT IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE and they issue more tickets than seats available in the studio. What does that mean? Means that even if you have tickets, you're not guaranteed to get in!

STUDIO LOCATION:

3000 W Alameda Avenue, Burbank, CA 91523

The Show tapes on the NBC Burbank lot in Studio 11, located just off of the 134 freeway. The pedestrian entrance is on Bob Hope Drive or East side of the facilities. 

PARKING: 

Parking was very simple as they are SOME available spots on the street (with a time limit) or a parking lot right across the street that charges $5 (right off Parkside Drive.)

LINE:

Tickets indicated that the arrive no later time was 2:45 pm with the show beginning at 4pm. We arrived early (at 12:45 pm) as ticket holders aren't guaranteed entrance. We wanted to make sure we received seats! When we approached the front of the studio, there was a fenced-in holding area that had a few trees with a high enough concrete border that it provided a few seats for those in the front of the line. A security guard was present and ensured we were standing in the correct location and made sure no one else attempted to cut in line since there really isn't a line (the area is wide and people just mingle around.) We were approximately number 32 and 33 in line. 

At around 1:30, the line moved from the holding area into the actual studio lot. Here we are posing in front of the sign :)

You then enter the gate through a metal detector and security searches your bag. Cell Phones are allowed on premises but must be turned off when inside the studio. The staff checks your ID and tickets and hands you a number.

We sat on benches for about another hour, giving us ample opportunity to use the restrooms (which were located in a trailer). The first 150 people are seated on benches inside a shaded area. The rest of the ticket holders are standing outside the shaded area. There were probably around 350 people waiting to go inside!

Then around 3 pm, we made our way inside the studio. Cell phones off and the staff seats you. We were about 4 rows up in front of Jay's Desk. They initially tried to seat us in the corner in front of where the band plays but we requested different seats as it was very out of the way of where most of the action occurs.

***TIP*** 

The order in line does not mean you get better seats. VIP's have their seats roped off and reserved groups have their seats roped off as well and these are mostly in the front few rows. Additionally, we noticed an attractive female in the back of the line who was wearing bright, flattering clothing. She ended up being escorted (with her male companion) from the back of the line to a separate entrance where they seated her in the front row on the floor. Being as it's an on-camera audience, young attractive females in cute outfits were seated in the first three rows on the floor. Here me and my girlfriend are dressed for cold weather and bundled up. We're not exactly spring chickens either! Lesson learned!

The monitors were playing music and leno sketches and everyone was pumped up. The Emcee came out, informed us of our jobs (clap, be energetic and laugh our faces off) and the band played at every intermission.

Jay came out before the show, did a small skit to get us in the laughing mood. He asked for questions, which one person received an autograph on their book, another got a picture taken and a young female told Jay her mom said hello... so Jay picked up the phone at the desk and proceeded to call her mom and offer her tickets for another show. 

With 5 minutes left before show time, Jay disappeared to get dressed. The cameras fired up and The Tonight Show began. Jay did his monologue; watching it in person was very surreal. You were encouraged to stand up and dance on commercial breaks and clap a lot. The Emcee would give out gifts to those who were highly energetic.

IT. WAS. EXHAUSTING. 

The Guests came out and for our episode it was Steve Carell and Maria Shriver. 

More commercial breaks with the band playing, people standing up and dancing. 

The guest band came on and played in front of us. Then that was it- the end of the show!

My girlfriend is a big Steve Carell fan. At the very end of the show, when the cameras had stopped rolling, it was actually quiet in the studio because the audience was told to sit down and wait so the celebrities could exit the studio first (the ones that were on stage). So, here we are watching Steve Carell and Maria Shriver walk in front of us with their staff and fixing to exit. My girlfriend and I yell out (as it was dead quiet) "WE LOVE YOU STEVE!

Steve looks up, freezes for a second in only a way that Steve, and proceeds to RUN UP INTO THE AUDIENCE AT US. He shakes our hands, says hello and runs back down to leave. 

BEST. EXPERIENCE. EVER. 

Even when he's being himself, he's funny and unpredictable.

The Audience then exits, most people make a beeline for the trailer restrooms and then we leave. It was 5:15 pm when we left the studio. 

Overall it was very fun, very memorable and exhausting from all that clapping, laughing and dancing. BUT, I did manage to receive a tee shirt from the Emcee for my efforts. 

It's going to be sad to see Jay leave and The Tonight Show move to NY. I've requested tickets during his last week here so *fingers crossed* I'll get to go again. 

***TIPS***

*Bring a sweater, the studio gets cold

*Bring snacks to munch on while you're waiting

*DRESS TO IMPRESS, the attractive people get front row seats

*BE ENERGETIC- drink your redbull

*Have $5 in cash for parking