HUH? WHAT?? ME? ON TV??
Behind the Scenes of My First TV Appearance
By Steve Ludwig
As I mentioned a couple blogs ago, the publisher of my book, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY, convinced me to engage in some publicity to promote the book.
This past Friday, I checked my email for the first time that day, at 5:00 PM. Evan Ginzburg (whom I had met a couple months earlier and am now proud to call a buddy) shot me an email. Evan is the associate producer of the movie The Wrestler, starring Mickey Rourke. Evan let me know that a producer/director friend of his, Solomon Chertok (whom I've also had the pleasure of meeting), wanted to know if I could be in Staten Island at 2:00PM the next day to appear on his friend's cable TV show, Home Invaders Variety Show, to promote my book. Me? Wow! Evan and Solomon are two very busy guys, and for them to take the time to even contact me about this is a testament as to how nice these two are.
I was to call Hector Bosa, the show's host, as soon as possible to make arrangements for the following day.
"Hello?" Hector almost yelled through the phone when he answered. It sounded like he was outside, on a busy street.
"Hi, Hector, my name is Steve Ludwig. Through Solomon Chertok, Evan Ginzburg suggested I call you to see if I could possibly appear on your show tomorrow."
"What?!" Hector hadn't been able to make out a single word I'd said.
I tried again: "Evan Ginzburg told me to..."
"Oh, Evan told you to call? Hold on..."
I held, as Hector apparently retreated into a store where it was quieter.
We talked; Hector was very receptive. He asked me to be at the studio at around 2:30PM. They shoot till 6:00PM.
Now at my first public reading on April 27 at Gizzi's in NYC, I needed my "Linus security blanket," Lloyd Gold, to be onstage with me. Lloyd played his ukulele and generally kept things light and fun. So for my first TV appearance ever, I wanted Lloyd with me. I owed him big time for appearing at Gizzi's, and maybe Lloyd would be able to sing a few songs. Should I dare even ask Hector, who was nice enough to allow me on his show in the first place?
"I have a buddy of mine, and we kind of work together. He plays the ukulele really well and backs me up while I read."
"Sure, man, bring him along!"
Hector was very cool, I could tell already. I immediately contacted Lloyd. Little did I know that he was, at that moment, receiving his Masters' Degree diploma at Montclair State University (Congratulations, Lloyd!!).
Lloyd said he was in.
To familiarize myself a bit with the show, I checked out the website (www.rarobertsonproductions.com/HI/HomeInvaders/index.html) and found that Hector calls himself the "Hardest, Baddest, Sexiest Man on Basic Access Cable." His show was delightfully offbeat. It was neat. I couldn't wait to be on it.
Lloyd and I met the next day at 12:30. I drove us to the NJ Turnpike, over the Goethals Bridge, and before we knew it we were turning down the street to the TV studio in Staten Island. It was only about 1:15 by this time, we had some time before having to report, and we were both hungry. So once we found the studio, we backtracked a couple blocks and found ourselves at the order pickup window of Checkers...That's Checkers as in FRIED FOOD Checkers. The irony of a guy who was about to go on a TV show to talk about surviving quintuple open-heart bypass surgery, eating at Checkers, wasn't lost on Lloyd and me. We laughed as we sat at our outdoor table, overlooking Forest Avenue in Staten Island, amidst the fumes of the passing traffic and our very fried French fries and our very fried fried food. (Please don't tell my cardiologist, Dr. Welish...) With this lunch, gee, could I have been subconsciously preparing to write a sequel to my first book? Nope, I was just hungry...
After surviving lunch, Lloyd and I drove back to the studio, had our names checked on the security guard's list as we entered the parking lot...and proceeded to go to the wrong door. We stood like numbskulls, looking in the locked glass doors, ringing a bell that went unanswered. When it finally got through our heads that, hey, ya think this might be the wrong door?, we walked around the back and found the studio door.
In we went. I felt like some cool guy, doin' a TV gig, Daddy-O.
We were early. It was about 1:50. We had no clue where to go, but we made a left and walked straight down a hall into a studio with cameras, lights, and a TV set with chairs.
"This must be the studio," I intelligently surmised.
Lloyd gave me a look like, "Ya think?? Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."
There was nobody there. I snapped a quick picture or two before we both decided we better not be in here.
We found one of the technicians, and he told us no one from the show was here yet, but make ourselves comfortable in the small cafeteria a few doors away.
We put our stuff on the lone table in the room; Lloyd started tuning and strumming his ukulele while I took one of my books out of my bag and placed it on the table. As Lloyd started loosening up his vocal cords, I looked dumbly down at the cover of my book. Well, I guess I'm all ready, I figured. Nothin' else to do but go to the bathroom. Lloyd stayed behind and practiced.
Shortly after I returned, a woman, younger than Lloyd and I, came into the room. We all nodded at each other, and she sat down and placed a book on the table.
"Are you here for the show?" I asked her.
"Yes, you guys also?"
A thought went through my head: Shoot, she's an author, too, and her book is a HARD COVER. Nobody's gonna like my book, I whined secretly.
But Kirsi Paalanen (her name) was not an author; she was a health specialist who had appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. But she offered this Oz information in a very humble manner: "My five minutes of fame," she said almost apologetically.
Lloyd and I could tell right away she was a good person. The three of us were in this together, and we almost immediately started leaning on each other until the taping.
Let me take this opportunity to tell you about Kirsi's website. It's www.myorangevilla.com.
As a certified passion test facilitator, Ms. Paalanen will help you find that focus you may have lost and help you recharge your passion for life and work. As you'll see when I share the show with you in a couple weeks, Kirsi knows her stuff. Please also visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/myorangevilla.
Soon a few people joined us in the room. One of them, Ro, asked if we could kindly move our things off the table so she could display the food. Food? Lunch for the crew, I figured.
Before long, a very laid-back man with slightly unkempt hair sauntered into the food room. It was Hector Bosa, the show's host.
Not yet quite in "uniform" for the show, he was definitely a cool guy. He sat down with us as a couple cameramen drifted in.
We each asked Hector a question or two about our upcoming taping.
"Hey, man, whatever you wanna do is fine. We just have a good time here."
And he sat down with us and talked and made us feel like part of the crew. We talked about Saturday Night Live, about Joe Franklin, about our pets, about scars on our bodies...Hector really put us at ease.
"C'mon, eat...Eat!" Hector insisted we help ourselves to the food.
He brought us into the control room and introduced us to the crew in there. One of them, Mitch, asked me for a copy of my book so he could scan the cover and show it onscreen during my interview.
There wasn't a single member of the whole outfit who wasn't pleasant to us. I mean, everybody welcomed us into their "world" with open arms, as if we had always been a part.
I asked Hector, "May I take pictures for my Facebook page and my blog?"
"Yeah, man, take pictures of whatever you want."
I almost felt like just hanging out with everybody and not even going on the show!
He eventually brought us into the studio and told us what to expect. He said that the show was taped as if it were live. There would be "roll-ins" between segments. Thankfully, Kirsi asked what a roll-in was, because I certainly had no clue. A roll-in was when Hector would come to the end of an interview segment and say something like, "And now let's check out this video," and they'd cut to a humorous video while the cameras were off us. During these roll-ins, we were free to talk to each other about the past segment or the segment coming up.
The atmosphere was consistently laid-back, but as the taping time approached, everyone on the crew went about their business professionally.
We were asked to sit in the chair we'd be in during the show (Hector had already told us where we'd be sitting) and to speak into our microphone so the sound levels could be checked.
When I spoke into mine, "Hello, I'm Steve Ludwig, I'm happy to be on the show," one of the control room guys said, "OK, Steve's fine." He didn't say "He's fine," but he said, "Steve's fine." Just another example how everybody made us feel like part of the family.
Now at my first public reading on April 27 at Gizzi's in NYC, I needed my "Linus security blanket," Lloyd Gold, to be onstage with me. Lloyd played his ukulele and generally kept things light and fun. So for my first TV appearance ever, I wanted Lloyd with me. I owed him big time for appearing at Gizzi's, and maybe Lloyd would be able to sing a few songs. Should I dare even ask Hector, who was nice enough to allow me on his show in the first place?
"I have a buddy of mine, and we kind of work together. He plays the ukulele really well and backs me up while I read."
"Sure, man, bring him along!"
Hector was very cool, I could tell already. I immediately contacted Lloyd. Little did I know that he was, at that moment, receiving his Masters' Degree diploma at Montclair State University (Congratulations, Lloyd!!).
Lloyd said he was in.
To familiarize myself a bit with the show, I checked out the website (www.rarobertsonproductions.com/HI/HomeInvaders/index.html) and found that Hector calls himself the "Hardest, Baddest, Sexiest Man on Basic Access Cable." His show was delightfully offbeat. It was neat. I couldn't wait to be on it.
Lloyd and I met the next day at 12:30. I drove us to the NJ Turnpike, over the Goethals Bridge, and before we knew it we were turning down the street to the TV studio in Staten Island. It was only about 1:15 by this time, we had some time before having to report, and we were both hungry. So once we found the studio, we backtracked a couple blocks and found ourselves at the order pickup window of Checkers...That's Checkers as in FRIED FOOD Checkers. The irony of a guy who was about to go on a TV show to talk about surviving quintuple open-heart bypass surgery, eating at Checkers, wasn't lost on Lloyd and me. We laughed as we sat at our outdoor table, overlooking Forest Avenue in Staten Island, amidst the fumes of the passing traffic and our very fried French fries and our very fried fried food. (Please don't tell my cardiologist, Dr. Welish...) With this lunch, gee, could I have been subconsciously preparing to write a sequel to my first book? Nope, I was just hungry...
After surviving lunch, Lloyd and I drove back to the studio, had our names checked on the security guard's list as we entered the parking lot...and proceeded to go to the wrong door. We stood like numbskulls, looking in the locked glass doors, ringing a bell that went unanswered. When it finally got through our heads that, hey, ya think this might be the wrong door?, we walked around the back and found the studio door.
In we went. I felt like some cool guy, doin' a TV gig, Daddy-O.
We were early. It was about 1:50. We had no clue where to go, but we made a left and walked straight down a hall into a studio with cameras, lights, and a TV set with chairs.
"This must be the studio," I intelligently surmised.
Lloyd gave me a look like, "Ya think?? Durrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr."
There was nobody there. I snapped a quick picture or two before we both decided we better not be in here.
We found one of the technicians, and he told us no one from the show was here yet, but make ourselves comfortable in the small cafeteria a few doors away.
We put our stuff on the lone table in the room; Lloyd started tuning and strumming his ukulele while I took one of my books out of my bag and placed it on the table. As Lloyd started loosening up his vocal cords, I looked dumbly down at the cover of my book. Well, I guess I'm all ready, I figured. Nothin' else to do but go to the bathroom. Lloyd stayed behind and practiced.
Shortly after I returned, a woman, younger than Lloyd and I, came into the room. We all nodded at each other, and she sat down and placed a book on the table.
"Are you here for the show?" I asked her.
"Yes, you guys also?"
A thought went through my head: Shoot, she's an author, too, and her book is a HARD COVER. Nobody's gonna like my book, I whined secretly.
But Kirsi Paalanen (her name) was not an author; she was a health specialist who had appeared on The Dr. Oz Show. But she offered this Oz information in a very humble manner: "My five minutes of fame," she said almost apologetically.
Lloyd and I could tell right away she was a good person. The three of us were in this together, and we almost immediately started leaning on each other until the taping.
Let me take this opportunity to tell you about Kirsi's website. It's www.myorangevilla.com.
As a certified passion test facilitator, Ms. Paalanen will help you find that focus you may have lost and help you recharge your passion for life and work. As you'll see when I share the show with you in a couple weeks, Kirsi knows her stuff. Please also visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/myorangevilla.
Soon a few people joined us in the room. One of them, Ro, asked if we could kindly move our things off the table so she could display the food. Food? Lunch for the crew, I figured.
Before long, a very laid-back man with slightly unkempt hair sauntered into the food room. It was Hector Bosa, the show's host.
Not yet quite in "uniform" for the show, he was definitely a cool guy. He sat down with us as a couple cameramen drifted in.
We each asked Hector a question or two about our upcoming taping.
"Hey, man, whatever you wanna do is fine. We just have a good time here."
And he sat down with us and talked and made us feel like part of the crew. We talked about Saturday Night Live, about Joe Franklin, about our pets, about scars on our bodies...Hector really put us at ease.
"C'mon, eat...Eat!" Hector insisted we help ourselves to the food.
He brought us into the control room and introduced us to the crew in there. One of them, Mitch, asked me for a copy of my book so he could scan the cover and show it onscreen during my interview.
There wasn't a single member of the whole outfit who wasn't pleasant to us. I mean, everybody welcomed us into their "world" with open arms, as if we had always been a part.
I asked Hector, "May I take pictures for my Facebook page and my blog?"
"Yeah, man, take pictures of whatever you want."
I almost felt like just hanging out with everybody and not even going on the show!
He eventually brought us into the studio and told us what to expect. He said that the show was taped as if it were live. There would be "roll-ins" between segments. Thankfully, Kirsi asked what a roll-in was, because I certainly had no clue. A roll-in was when Hector would come to the end of an interview segment and say something like, "And now let's check out this video," and they'd cut to a humorous video while the cameras were off us. During these roll-ins, we were free to talk to each other about the past segment or the segment coming up.
The atmosphere was consistently laid-back, but as the taping time approached, everyone on the crew went about their business professionally.
We were asked to sit in the chair we'd be in during the show (Hector had already told us where we'd be sitting) and to speak into our microphone so the sound levels could be checked.
When I spoke into mine, "Hello, I'm Steve Ludwig, I'm happy to be on the show," one of the control room guys said, "OK, Steve's fine." He didn't say "He's fine," but he said, "Steve's fine." Just another example how everybody made us feel like part of the family.
Another crew member led us into the "green" room (it wasn't really green) to sign our "Talent Release" forms.
Here's the green room above. In the mirror you can see Kirsi on the left kicking back before the taping, and a woman knitting. (Hmmm, this scene isn't unlike a David Lynch movie.)
As we signed our "Talent Release" forms, I couldn't help but feel like I should've crossed the word "Talent" off of mine. But I didn't; I followed suit with Lloyd and Kirsi.
As Lloyd and Kirsi sign their Talent Releases (above), Lloyd's uke checks for spelling.
At 4:30PM, it was finally time for taping. Kirsi was to have the first segment alone with Hector. As you'll see when you watch the show in a week or two, she is an expert in her field. Be sure to check out both her website and Facebook pages when you get a few minutes.
After Kirsi, Lloyd and I would join her on the panel for the rest of the show.
I'll let you all watch the show itself when I get a copy. All I'll say is that Hector is hilarious, and we all managed to get a little goofy as the show went on.
Here's what we saw from our seats:
And here's where Lloyd and I put our junk while on camera:
And finally, here we are, after the taping, having lived to blog the story...
Lloyd, Kirsi, Hector, and yours truly
So there ya go! Hopefully when I post the show in a bit, you'll be able to find some time to check it out!
-Steve
Do you love pop culture as much as I do? You might get a kick out of my radio show, STEVE LUDWIG'S CLASSIC POP CULTURE at www.PlanetLudwig.com. Thanks!
IF YOU ENJOYED READING THIS BLOG, WOULD YOU BE SO KIND AS TO CONSIDER BUYING MY BOOK, SEE YOU IN CCU: A LIGHTHEARTED TALE OF MY OPEN-HEART SURGERY ? JUST VISIT WWW.CCUBOOK.COM.
As always, thanks so much for everything,
Steve Ludwig
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