Copyright (C) 1994 Dave Friedman.

From: dfriedma@nyx10.cs.du.edu (Dave Friedman)
Subject: Cosby on Letterman -- Was there, my story
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 94 18:13:05 GMT

I was in New York last week and went to see Letterman on Monday, March 21,
1994, when Bill Cosby and Sheryl Crow were on. My story is fairly long,
but no one's forcing you to read it. Here it is... 

I arrived at the Ed Sullivan Theatre at 7 am Monday morning. They give
away standby tickets at noon, but there was already a line when I arrived.
I was sixth on line. The others had only been waiting a little while. At
9 am the staff arrived and let us in to the lobby to wait in line. We signed
in in the order in which we were waiting in line. We printed and signed
our names. They told us we could leave for a short period of time to go to
the bathroom or to get food. By 9 am there were between 30 and 40 people
on line. They said they give away 100 standby tickets each day. Sometimes 
few if any get in, sometimes 30 or 40 get in. There's no way of knowing
beforehand. 

At noon, we filed out the door and received numbered tickets corresponding
to our place in line. They told us to return at 4:50 pm and wait in line
around the corner. After 20 minutes or so, they would let us know how many
people would be let in. 

People started to arrive early, but the only real reason to do that was to
see the guests go in the stage entrance. I missed it, but others told me
Cosby signed autographs as he entered. At 4:50, the pages lined us up in
the order of our tickets. They had the sign-in sheets and made sure our
name and ticket numbers matched the sheet. They actually kicked out 2
people who snuck in line a little before noon. They got tickets, but they
hadn't signed in. 

At about 5:15 pm, they let the first ten people in -- I don't know if any
others were let in later. Until that time, I had no idea whether I would
get in. As we walked in, the people ahead of me were directed to the
balcony. When I walked in, a man asked if I was alone. I was. He escorted
me to an open seat in the front row! I was actually sitting in the far
left seat (when facing the audience) in the second row. The front row
doesn't go out that far, so there wasn't anyone in front of me. I was
about 15-20 feet from the spiral staircase.  It actually does go up to the
catwalks. 

When I was seated, they were playing taped music in the studio. I asked 
the guy next to me when he sent in for tickets. He said October of 93 -- 
not too bad. I had heard the wait was longer than that.

One of the writers came out and warmed-up the audience with lame jokes 
the audience seemed to enjoy. He pointed out the applause signs and told 
us he would also motion to the audience himself when we should applaud -- 
going in and out of commercial breaks. He said CBS doesn't want the 
audience to give Dave a standing ovation any more. Everyone jeered. He 
said we could give him one before the show starts if we wanted to. Then 
he introduced the band as they came on stage and started playing. Paul 
didn't come out until right before the end of the song. The audience 
welcomed him with a nice round of applause.

At 5:28 -- there was a clock right near me, which actually said 11:28 -- 
Dave came out. We all gave him a standing o. He thanked us and asked if 
anyone was visiting from out of town. A woman four seats away from me, in 
the same row, was one of the many who raised her hand. Dave said she was 
the first one he saw and asked her where whe was from. She said she was 
from Oklahoma and asked if he had gotten the cheese she had brought. He 
said he hadn't, but would check into it. He asked her more details about 
where she was from and what she did. Then one of the staff people brought 
out the now-famous cheese in the shape of Oklahoma. He joked about that. 
Then he went off stage and put on his suit-coat and the show started.

They must have two or three dozen television monitors for the audience to
watch. We see the whole show on the monitors just as it will be when
broadcast later in the evening. When the show started, the cameras were
blocking my view of most of the band and Dave's desk. But, after Dave
finished the monologue, the cameras all moved in and my view was virtually
unobstructed. 

The band played during commercials, except when Dave did promos for the
show. He did one where he looked into the camera and said something like,
"Tonight on The Late Show, Michael Jordan practices ice dancing." He did
another one after Bill Cosby finished his segments. Bill borrowed a book
from someone in the audience and sat in someone's seat for a moment. Dave
did one of his look who's in the audience routines and the camera went to
Bill sitting in the audience with his reading glasses on, engrossed in a
book. 

When Cosby came out for his interview and made fun of the audience's view
of the show and Dave prompted him to go out into the audience himself, he
came over to the section I was in -- if anyone has this show on tape, I
would be interested in getting a copy (March 21, 1994). They didn't do a
close-up of me, but I could see myself 'cause I knew where to look --
front left with a gray Wisconsin sweatshirt. 

While the CBS Orchestra played during a commercial break, Morty went up
and told Bill he was doing well and thanked him for coming. During another
commercial break, Mary Connelly (staff person who, among other things,
competes with Dave throwing footballs in garbage cans) came up and sat
next to Bill and appeared to discuss what would happen in the next
segment.

When Sheryl Crow sang Leaving Las Vegas, Dave was listening while 
reclining with his feet up on his desk.

When the show ended, everyone just left. I asked one of the pages about 
getting an autograph. He told me I should have asked a page before the 
show and they would have taken care of it, but it was too late now.

It was raining outside, but I waited for a little while outside the stage
door for someone, anyone to come out. After maybe ten minutes, Bill Cosby
came out and signed a few autographs, sang a school song with some guy who
was also waiting there, and then said that's enough and left in his
chauffeur-driven car. A few minutes later, Mary Connelly appeared. No one
seemed to recognize her. I said "Mary." She looked over, surprised. I
asked for her autograph. She was very nice and obliged, even in the
pouring rain. 

That's about it. If anyone has a question about something I missed (what 
that could be, I don't know), I'd be glad to respond. I'd also be 
interested in hearing other people's accounts.