L.A. Bound

I need a change of scenery. Well at least for a couple days.

I am getting my wish. I just booked a trip to L.A. for early next month. I'm meeting my L.A. friend, let's call him Xaler, over there. We're both big fans of the series Half & Half. I'm coinciding my trip with catching a taping of the show with him.

It's not my first time seeing a taping. I flew to L.A. in August 2004 and had my first studio audience experience. It was for Half & Half, of course. It was interesting to say the least. Security to get into the studio is tight as one might expect. You go through two different security checks and you're not allowed to bring cellphones, cameras, weapons, etc. into the studio. The time I went, our M.C. was that black dude that was Ice Cube's road dog in Player's Club. I think he guest starred on a few shows. His name is drawing a blank for me right now.

Part of his job was to keep the captive audience occupied during the downtime. He talked a mile a minute, throwing good jokes and bad jokes (mostly bad jokes) in an effort to keep everyone contained. It was almost, as Xaler described, M.C.'s way of keeping us from thinking about what was going on. If you were really good, he'd toss you some miniature candy, which people would literally go crazy to grab. I suppose I should've been grabbing too since I hadn't eaten prior to the taping. And the stale slice of Dominoes pizza and a bottle water they provide just didn't cut it. Just as a scene is about to start, M.C. reminds the audience to laugh and refrain from conversing.

I enjoyed the experience of seeing what goes on to create an episode. All the behind the scenes stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing it again. I didn't get the opportunity to meet any of the actors but I don't know, maybe I'll try this time. We'll see.

And I'll get to visit West Hollywood and Beverly Hills again. Cool.