The Jimmy Kimmel Show

 
When Zachary & I made the decision to stop in Los Angeles for a few weeks on our return flight the the U.S. I quickly had the idea that we should go to a show. I did a little search online and found The Ellen Show. "Yippee Ki-yea!" I thought. So, I went online and checked the availability. Every day. I checked and checked. And finally found days available! So I applied for tickets. And we waited. After doing my little L.A. show search I also saw The Jimmy Kimmel show was in L.A. "Yippee Ki-yea again!" I thought. So, I checked every day until a day was available and applied for tickets there, too. I applied to both just in case we didn't get one. I thought 2 chances were better than 1. Duh. So, we waited. And a few days later we got an email that we had got the Jimmy Kimmel Tickets! Yeeeaa! Then a few weeks later we got a letter in the mail at my mom's house saying we got the Ellen Show, too! It was pretty awesome & we were super excited to get to L.A.!

So, January 4th, we made our way over to Hollywood Blvd. for the first time ever (for me!), found our way to El Capitan Theater, and waited in line. For 2 hours. We waited and waited and waited. Watch "Mr. Muscle" for a little bit, chatted with the Jimmy Kimmel Show staff, shifted back and forth & waited. 

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Our view from the line across the street in one direction.

And our view from the line across the street in the other direction. :) Hard Rock Cafe & the TCL Theater.

Just standing in line on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Stars. No big deal. (ha. Actually, no big deal, as anybody can walk on the stars. But! We were waiting in line for the Jimmy Kimmel Show!!)

Then finally after waiting outside (in heels!) for two hours, we made our way into the studio lobby, after security, and waited for another 20 minutes or so. Then, FINALLY, we got into the actual studio & took our seats! At this point in the waiting game, there were screens with great material from past shows to keep us entertained and we were sitting down in the air conditioned studio. Much better than our outside wait. After 10 minutes or so Don Barris came out and got us prepped for the show!

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Don Barris' job is to get everyone warmed up for the big show! He was great with the audience, asking us questions & getting us excited. He had lots of jokes and a dig about Texas weather when we said we were from Texas (which I didn't like, but it's true! Texas weather is the worst but my Texas pride kicked in! haha!). We practiced cheering really loud & listening to his ques, which were basically the "louder" motion, "clapping" motion, "quiet" motion & we practiced following the "applause"/ "quiet" signs. Easy, Peasy. We also learned the "rules" of the show which were basically, laugh really loud, applause really loud & don't shout anything out.

Finally, with loud applause from all of us, Jimmy Kimmel came out for the opening monologues & a short "Jimmy Kimmel's Book Club"  Clip. :) Watch the clip here.

Favorite quotes by these adorable little kiddos:

  After all the initial opening scence fun, Jeff Bridges, came on. He was hilarious. He was exactly as he plays in Tron. I kind of loved his hippie, free, "Ya....man....." attitude & spirit. He talked about his Sleeping Tapes with Squarespace, his commercial during the Super Bowl, his way to cope with anxiety (which includes more humming) & traveling with his his band. Watch the interview here, here and here.

Purchase & Download Jeff's Sleep Tapes here. 100% of the retail price goes to No Kid Hungry. 

"The world is filled with too many restless people in need of rest – that's why I filled my sleeping tapes with intriguing sounds, noises and other things to help you get a good night's rest. - Jeff"-From the Dreaming With Jeff website.

 
 After Jeff Bridges did his "Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" green screen read, Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie Green in The Walking Dead, came out. She was precious. Super beautiful, with the cutest accent & I loved her green dress! :) She was very sweet & down to earth. She chatted about being pulled over in her The Walking Dead costume & her hilarious Jersey and grandmother. She even played a voice mail recording from her grandma. Watch those clips here & here. :)
 

 A voice mail from her grandma,  "Hi sweet heart. Grand pa and I watched your season, uh, show, the first one, we watched it at lunch today because we had to watch the Eagles last night. And uh, I'd rather watch your show but that's the way it went. And,  I think your show is so good, but I think this season ,really, is just so amazing. The special effects and everything. And you just looked great. And their were some scenes where you looked glamorous. I, I couldn't believe it. They're glamming you a little bit, I like that. Well, this is a short call. I know you got my little package, if you, or your, uh, little assistant, (Lauren- " 'Haha I don't have an assistant!") will let me know, um, I'll talk to ya, maybe on this coming weekend." PRECIOUS!

 

 After all the studio interviews & commercial cuts, we made our to the El Capitan Theatre lobby to watch 'Jeff Bridges & The Abiders' perform. I loved this part! I wish it had of been the first thing we did because by the time we got here is was past 8pm and I had tired hands from clapping, a sore throat from cheering & achy feet from standing in heels on Hollywood Blvd. waiting to go in, for almost 2 hours. I wanted to enjoy the concert like a concert but I felt so tired and complainy, if you can't tell.

 Despite all my emotions for not feeling good, I really enjoyed the show. Jeff Bridges has a great voice and the whole show was a pleasant surprise. I would buy their album  (if I bought albums--I will definitely look it up on Spotify) & go to a future show if they ever came to our area.

 The little lady standing next to him, singing with him, is his daughter, which I think is amazing. I'm sure they have so much fun on tour together! His wife was also in the audience. It was great. :)

 After the show, we tried to sneak up to the front and get a closer look & possible chat with Jeff or Jimmy, but they exited pretty quickly. So, made our way out of the studio and straight to Zara next door so I could get new shoes for my achy feet!

Ya! New flats. I fell in love immediately. They were so comfortable!

We also found the Jimmy Kimmel star!

We also found our way to the giant Ghirardelli store next door to the theatre. We waited for a long time & got to go to a free Jimmy Kimmel Show, we deserved chocolate! ;) We loaded up a plastic pint container with as many chocolates as we could squeeze in & got iced coffees. The chocolates were surprisingly not sooo expensive. I think it was $8 for as many as we could stuff in. It was ALOT of chocolate, too! It was a great treat to have the rest of our trip and we got to try so many different kinds.

With our coffees in hand & box of chocolate in tow, we walked down Hollywood Blvd, enjoying the stars, the Hollywood Stars I mean & putting our hands and feet in the prints as The Chinese Theatre.

Oh look at those new shoes again! :) I thought it was interesting there were stars for animated characters.

Look how cool Johnny is, writing his 10 as a Roman numeral. :) Also, check out that signature. Why don't any of the stars do it barefoot? I would do it barefoot.

We had an amazing time at The Jimmy Kimmel Show. It was such a cool experience & I'm so very thankful to ticketing & the whole Jimmy Kimmel team for allowing us to go!


A Few Inside Deets:

This may be obvious, but there's lots of breaks in between takes. Also, things are filmed  & shown  out of order as to what they are on the show when you watch it on T.V.

Jimmy seemed actually pretty quite & focused when not "on" screen.

"Celebrities Read Mean Tweets" are done against a green screen.

The "extra" video clips like "Book Club" are done before the show, as in they don't record it there, live. Maybe they've recorded it another day for a different audience, I'm not sure. 

Parking is free for the first 2 hours in the garage with a validation ticket. If you are gone for more than 2 (which we were because of the waiting, show & concert after) you have to pay something like $8 an hour. Don't quote me on that though, I can't remember the exact amount.

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^Thank you Paul for this great map! (I know you wrote "Don't Steal My Stuff" at the bottom of your post, so I'm hoping that citing you counts as not stealing. :) :)  )

Also, here's Paul's "Jimmy Kimmel Secret"below, which I didn't know, so it was very interesting to me reading this! Also, check out Paul's post on he and his wife's' time at the show.

"I laughed very, uh, deliberately throughout the show, meaning, I laughed as loudly as I could. I was sitting in the front row and was hoping to hear myself laughing on TV. There were a few key moments that I made a mental bookmark of when I laughed really hard. That way I could try and hear myself later on TV and know it’s me. When I watched the episode on TV that night and waited for those key parts, I heard nothing and realized that our laughter never actually makes it on TV! I am now convinced the show uses a laugh track and that our audience laughter is never really recorded. They only get us to laugh to add to the energy of the show and probably our enjoyment, but the microphones don’t really pick it up."

Ticketing Tips: Check 1iota.com daily until there's an opening!  Best part- tickets are free! Leave room in your schedule for several different day options, so that you don't have to say 'no' to an available show.

If you live in LA or will be around/traveling to LA, make sure you request tickets! It was an awesome experience!