Never having been too into late night TV shows, it was a trip to LA that gave me my first taste at seeing what goes on behind the scenes to make a major TV program come together. It was a trip to LA in 2001, May, and we were spending a bit over a week there and in San Diego.

Over the course of the week, we were seeing several concerts, interviewing for jobs in the LA area, and also because of my good friend Buzz Knight, a radio pro now at Greater Media, and then my PD at WZLX in Boston, we were also going to meet Jay Leno.

Buzz is friends with Helga Pollack I believe her name is, who at the time, was a person tight with Jay, on his staff, and who generously got us tickets to watch the show, and meet Jay afterward.

We went to the Burbank NBC Studios, and were brought to our exact seats in the studio where Jay shoots. They were excellent seats, as you face the stage, slightly off center to the right, maybe four rows or so back? Hard to remember. It's all very close.

Jay came out before the show wearing just jeans and a button down shirt- super casual. He made everyone feel comfortable, explained a litlte how some of the TV stuff would work regarding clapping and the lights on the show, etc.

The thing about his pre-show rap that made the biggest impression was how funny he was. He could pick a random audience member, ask them some stuff about their life, and respond with the funniest, wittiest stuff. I was blown away how talented Jay Leno really is.

The show featured Arsenio Hall, Rick Fox of the Lakers/ex-Celtics, and some Mexican band I cannot remember.

When it was over, my name was called among a short list of names, and everyone on it was told to come forward, while everyone else left.

We went up, and small groups of people met Jay and had a pic with him. We were the last group, and got to spend a while bullshitting with him about Boston, where we were from, Emerson, which is my college and his too, and just told him to his face how talented I'd just witness him being. He was super cool, down to earth, very nice, and I have only great things to say about him.

It made a big impression on me.

I'm a media personality and radio broadcaster in Honolulu, Hawaii, and
news anchor with Hawaii Public Radio, the voice of NPR statewide in the
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