On February 1st 2017, I had the opportunity to attend the Harry Connick Jr. show. I had no idea who he was, and am still pretty unsure if I’m being honest, but I’ve never been at a live taping and my schedule was free so I decided to go! The guests on the February 1st show were supposed to be Ali Larter from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt, and Asa Butterfield from The Space Between Us. I was most excited to see Asa Butterfield, because he was the only person I recognized because of all the trailers I’ve seen for his movie.
I’m still a bit confused about the filming process of the show. The show I saw live was being filmed for two days, on February 1st and then again on the 7th. At one point in the taping, Harry introduced Laurence Fishburne from Black-ish, and the audience got up and clapped and screamed, only for Harry to apologize because Laurence Fishburne wasn’t actually going to come out – we were just apart of the introduction and her live part in the show would conclude next week. We did get to see guests, but none of them were the guests that I thought we would see. Asa Butterfield and others filmed on the day I was there, but at an earlier time. The celebrity guests I did get to see were Lennon Stella from Nashville, and Lauren Ash from Superstore. It wasn’t so bad though, because Lauren was pretty funny and a great singer, and she got to do some improv with Harry which showcased that.
One thing the viewers at home might not know about a live taping is that there’s a lot of work for the audience. If you plan on going to a live taping, just know that there will be a lot of clapping. Every time we took a break meant for commercials, and every time we came back, the audience was expected to stand up and clap. The band would play music and tell us to scream. At first, it was kind of fun, but then after a while, it got annoying and my hands actually started to hurt from clapping for the whole hour.
Overall, the whole experience was fun, and I would definitely do it again. The guests were inspiring, and I got to see a girl win a car, which was pretty cool. Now, I’m just left wondering what the audiences are actually thinking when they’re clapping and dancing. Are they really having fun, or is a crewmember directing them?
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