Real Time in Real Time

Megan and I had the opportunity so see a live taping of the Bill Maher show "Real Time With Bill Maher" about two weeks ago. One of my co-workers knows a guy who happens to be "kind of a big deal," so he hooked us up with VIP tickets. Interestingly enough, even though "Real Time" is an HBO production, it's actually shot in the CBS studios in Hollywood. From what I understand, HBO is located in New York, but for some reason the show is shot in LA, so they have to rent a studio from CBS; a completely useless factoid with which you can amaze your friends next time you're at a party and need to show off your vast amount of knowledge.

We arrived at the CBS studios early - no, having VIP tickets doesn't guarantee you good seats, it just means that you get to wait in a separate line to go in to the studio before the common folk. After an hour of waiting, we finally got to go in to the studio. It was pretty much what I expected: small, dark, and cold. If you have seen "Real Time" you actually have a good idea of what the studio looks like every time the overhead camera pans across the audience. 10 minutes before the show went live, one of the producers came out and ran us through clapping, laughing, and clapping then laughing practice. Don't make fun, the last exercise is a very difficult maneuver as most people want to laugh and clap at the same time. After we practiced, the show started and we immediately lost the ability to see anything on the stage because there were no less than 6 cameras surrounding the cast. I would like to note that Bill actually stands there reading the teleprompter during his monologue just like it looks like he does. It's something you might never think about, but it's true.

The guests on the show were bland; some guy from the office, a British chap, and some political news person from CNN. The British guy was awesome and I feel bad for not remembering his name. The other two guests, however, weren't all that impressive, especially the CNN lady. It was very apparent that she didn't know what she was talking about at any point in the show, a fact that was amplified when she completely made up a quote one of the satellite guests supposedly said earlier in the show. Fortunately, Bill caught her lie and called her out on live television, which was great, as I enjoy seeing people get called out on their shit, especially if it's on live TV. After the TV part of the show ended there was a short 5 minute segment for people watching on the internet. Not much happened here, just extra stuff in the same format as the show. Bill didn't really acknowledge the crowd or anything after the show, he just walked off the set. I thought that was somewhat assholish, but whatever.

I had a good time seeing a live show taped (plus seeing how they are taped); it's something I wanted to do and now I can cross it off the list of things to do in LA.