live from boston
Seeing the Daily Show live was, in a word, awesome. I stood in line for roughly three hours in order to get good seats, and I’m happy to say that all that standing got me a good angle for sitting. So then I’m finally sitting in the Tsai Center, which does not look like the Tsai Center, but rather, the Freaking Awesome Center. The set looks bigger on TV, but God, does it look cool in person.
Did you know that the Daily Show employs a warm-up comic? His name is Paul, and his main function is to ensure that the audience claps and laughs loudly enough for the microphones to pick it up (as TDS does not use “canned laughter” and the Tsai Center’s acoustics eat up a lot of sound). The comic was funny once he got talking, but his overdrawn attempts to get the audience clapping loudly were tiresome. Then, Jon Stewart walks on stage.
Clap coaching? We don’t need no f*cking clap coaching. Why? Because once Jon Stewart emerges from the shadows of backstage, the whole audience is thinking what I’m thinking: HOLY SH*T IT’S JON STEWART AND I’M IN THE SAME ROOM AS HIM AND HE’S MY FREAKINING HERO AND HE’S TALKING!! JON! YEEEEEEEAH! WOOOO!
Mr. Stewart takes a few minutes before the show to answer questions from the audience, proving that unlike his late night competition, he’s actually capable of being funny and engaging without a team of writers feeding him lines. “Jon, what do you think of the accomodations at BU?” “Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve slept on one of those tiny double beds. Frankly, I’m shocked that anyone can get laid in college. But my roommate is awesome. He’s a computer science major. His name is Hwwwwaaang.”
The live taping itself is almost identical to what you see on television. In fact, large projection screens on either side of the stage show you exactly what the show will look like on television, graphics, camera cuts, and all. Really cool.
The real difference between the taping and the TV show is the energy that seems to crackle through the auditorium. The roars of applause that followed Jon Stewart and the correspondents sounds muted on TV. Did you know that Stephen Colbert nearly got a standing ovation at the end of his piece? Son of a turd farmer, indeed. Rob Cordry, Samantha Bee, and Ed Helms stood in front of a green screen not three feet apart from each other, and you’d never know it in the final product. I always thought that there’d be all kinds of mistakes and flubs that get edited out of the final broadcast, but no, the cast and crew really are that good. It’s seamless and energetic, and it was a great live show.
Commentation
(No Comments)