I have been wanting to go to a taping for a long time, but haven't prioritized making it happen. Tickets to the shows usually sell out quickly, so you have to be on their website at the right time or you are out of luck.
Denise and I took the South Shore train on late Thursday morning from the SB airport to downtown Chicago and checked into the Essex Inn on Michigan Ave, which we got for a good deal on Hotwire. Denise knows the public transportation system in Chicago well thanks to going along on a Bethany senior trip to Chicago, so next we went to the nearest train station and traveled to the stop closest to Star of Siam, a Thai restaurant that Denise has been to several times. It was our mid-afternoon meal that was big enough to be both lunch and supper and very yummy.
We took the train back to our hotel, then relaxed for about an hour in our room before getting back on the train to head to the Chase Tower. We found it without any problem, easily found the waiting area, and got in 'line' until the registration table opened. After we checked in and got our programs, we got into another line that we stood in for about 1/2 hour until the theater opened. We were near the front of the line and the seats are general admission so we got good seats in the middle of the auditorium.
The taping was so much fun to watch. The edited show on the radio runs for about 50 minutes, but they taped over 90 minutes of material. The panelists for the week were funny, and Peter Sagal is also funny. I don't how he thinks of funny things to say off the top of his head, but he does. It was so interesting to see something live and in person that I have heard on the radio many times. It seemed like a smaller production than I expected, somehow.
I have been wanting to go to a taping for a long time and I am glad it finally worked. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to do it again.
After the show was over we took the train back to our hotel. We slept in the next morning, then explored downtown Chicago, including Grant & Millennium Parks until we caught the South Shore train back to South Bend. A great experience!
The sign telling us we were at the right place!!
The empty set before taping began. Panelists sit on the right, and Carl Kasell and Peter Sagal stand at the podiums for the entire show.
The set during taping. The auditorium isn't that big so we felt a part of the show and could see clearly what was going on.
The panelists: Roy Blount, Jr., Amy Dickinson, Moz Jobrani
Carl & Peter
The Bean in Millennium Park, downtown Chicago
Chicago Skyline reflected in The Bean
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