Amy Cherin Humes moonlit for the CBS Morning News WHILE working fulltime for Late Show to become a unionized stage manager

hey I'm Steve Young and you're watching the Letterman podcast I hope you enjoy welcome once again to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisum uh I am really excited for this episode broken record I'm excited for all them Yad Yad Yad Amy um Sharon Humes uh came on the show today we just had an amazing conversation um she was uh among other things in the show uh the assistant to Jerry Foley at a time which was a pretty crazy moment in Letterman history how gry had retired Jerry Foley took over as the full-time director uh and and and um you know did it perfectly as far as I'm concerned uh if there was a perfect person to take over for the legendary Hal gurny it was Jerry well Amy was certainly um a part of that she was there for it she helped figure out what it was going to look like she didn't even have a a description in her job really at that point they kind of figured the whole thing out she also did other things with the production as well we get into that a little bit she started as a pig um and then uh wormed her way into uh The Guild the Director's Guild I believe it is so she could be a stage manager as well and talks about that has an amazing story um and quite the kid a 17-year-old son who's got a book that's about to come out I love this episode so much uh we're just going to get right to it please enjoy now there's a couple little technical things that happened um throughout it somebody decided to do some workout outside of the house I hope that doesn't translate to the show itself the show uh on the audio perspective and then we had a little blurb in the middle I'm just going to keep it all in there because the conversation was so good but um yeah the Letterman podcast proud to present Amy Sharon news Amy uh something that you just said before I hit the record button has got me so excited your office was right across from shecky you got to see Rick a lot when you worked at your time at Late Show show yes I did actually I didn't even have an office I had a desk in a hallway um in a little niche in the hallway but that was okay and it was right outside sheck's office and so he was always you know kind of standing in the doorway and um you know kind of giving me advice and um asking me what was going on and um yeah we'll really miss him I uh I do too one of the things that Rick told me um was that he was really good at just staying in his Lane he he knew the lane he was in and and there was lots of what you were just talking about talking with people giving advice um you know he never they called him a film coordinator but but you know you had you had writers and people coming up to him and showing him some of the video pieces the extras that they would do asking him you know do we need this do we need that what should we do to this um really in a lot of ways and I can say this myself personally like just a sage that kind of knew he had an opinion on everything in or or a wide variety of things anyway and they were good opinions like they just it was it was solid stuff yes he really knew his stuff and what knowledge of I mean he could just pull the writers would ask him oh we need footage of I mean some random thing and he would find it in black and white and you know stop motion whatever I mean it was just incredible he just knew right right away he had an amazing um amazing depth of knowledge something that he and Don Giller have in common whenever I talk to Don about the show he's able to pull so quickly information as to when and where happened Rick could do that in the entire world of film especially old film I love Rick so much um okay let's go back to the beginning for you Amy when did you when did you start with late show it was somewhere in the early 90s um they had moved to um CBS just that year before I believe and I I was Jerry Foley well well no I'll go back a bit Yeah so they had just moved to CBA s and I had been working in New York as like a production assistant doing a lot of Off Broadway stuff running around um doing a lot of theater and I was getting kind of burnt out working crazy hours and everything and um a friend of mine connected me with the CBS page program and so I became page and I worked in all kinds of I mean every show at CBS and the news and you know haraldo and all the crazy things Dan Rather yeah Dan Rather did that that was intense and um yeah and um then uh I was lucky enough to get the assignment of Backstage page which every page wanted it's a month-long assignment and you stand at the stage door and you escort guests from their limos to their dressing room or you know wherever they need to go so um I did that and toward the end of that assignment and I just loved I mean it was like the first time in my life first of all that I had ever been cool which was you know standing at that stage door I was never a cool person until then or I thought I was pretty cool then and um and I just loved everyone there and so um they asked me to interview Morty was looking for an assistant and um I was like I'm getting this I'm getting this job and then I didn't I interviewed but um yeah Jennifer Cunningham got that job and um but they said well why don't you interview for this other job so I interviewed with Janice penino yeah and she hired me to be in the ticket office with one other guy Sean gotley yeah and at the time you had to send in a postcard to get tickets for the show so we would sit with stacks of postcards and every day all we did Sean liked Frank Sinatra so we had Frank Sinatra playing and the two of us would sit side by side and just type in addresses all day long and um and that was fun for a while and then Jerry Foley yeah how long couple weeks yeah no I mean we actually Sean and I had a great time and we would talk you know the feed would come into the office so we could you know watch what was going on and oh that's cool you could see the rehearsals and all of that stuff yeah it's like we were I mean and that's what's so great about that show is no matter how like Bob bordon started in the mail room you know like no matter how in significant your job seems to be there was always you were just part of the family it was like right away it was just the way it was and um so we had a blast and then I don't know how many months I was there but it was a while and um Jerry needed his assistant so I interviewed and I got the job yep and that was amazing I think I was his first assistant and it was my first time being an assistant to a director you know at the Late Show yeah so I had no idea what I was doing and and he didn't really know what to ask me to do so we just kind of figured it out and um he really became a mentor to me and very very good friend and that's how it happened um I want to go back to when you were a Paige so you were a Paige working for CBS yes and your gig was to stand right in the sense between you know right a few feet away from the hello Deli and and when people would get out of the the car you would take them and escort them to the Green Room that was your gig yes yep that was my that was my gig usually they put you on like news in the morning or do something in the morning and then every afternoon you're over at the late show and um when you're backstage page it's like really fun because you're finally back there right so you're meeting all the guests and I once turned away Deborah Harry I didn't know she was Deborah Harry and um she came with this big she came with this big scarf over her head and sunglasses and and she said you know I'm here and I want to come backstage and I said well you know there were always all kinds of wild people at the stage door wanting to come in so I said well you know who are you you know I need I have my list here with my clipboard and everything and and she said Deborah hary and I said oh my goodness waser please come in you know and um oh I was just mortified but anyway you uh okay so so that gig there did it always stay a CBS gig or it became a pants gig when Janice kind of created the the internal program at that maybe when I was there it was still CBS okay okay so it was still a CBS deal um yeah in that time that you did that month-long gig any memorable uh folks any memorable trips from the from 3rd to the to to The Green Room with anybody that you were holy cow I can't believe this is happening and you kind of got hyper presentes in that moment were there any moments that stick out during that time not as much definitely once I started stage managing the show occasionally which is another you know story of how that happened um yeah we're gonna get into that don't worry about that yeah then I have a lot more memories I mean really what happened when you're a backstage page they get off like literally right at the curb and you say right this way and the it's like a 20 foot you know as wide as the sidewalk you're with them yeah but um yeah I would say the Deborah Harry thing was a big one um there was a Miss America oh Vanessa Williams came once oh wow and um that was kind of like I don't that was I was pretty um nervous about that one but mostly it was what the way I felt and this goes forward to my entire enire time at the show I just always had this pervading feeling that I'm working with people who allowed themselves to achieve their wildest dreams I just always it's it's like every day I was like wow I'm working with people who didn't build boundaries around themselves who didn't I mean they have certain walls obviously and we're all human but there was something so remarkable about being around people who were living like that that is a very very well said talk about save The Best For Last with venessa Williams um yeah yeah that that is a very well uh said statement um I I believe that the B like you know we talk about the show is uh you know a celebration of of of the body the greatest body of broadcasting work in history that of David Letterman and Company the company part was a group of remarkable creatives in many respects creatives and then folks who um were just really good at their job on technical sides of things but like you say I think a commonality between it all is thinking big and not being afraid to do something big uh I was just in New York talking to some of the some of the Union guys that have made it over from from from Late Show to the new Late Show with with with with Co bear I was talking with an older guy named Bill Palumbo I don't know if you remember bill or not and he's talking about the things that they built on 53rd Street he's talking about the ski jump and all of the things that they had to do for literally a two-minute spot on TV and then they take it apart and and and and bring it all down I love that about the show that the show would would would create these grandiose things well in order to create grandiose things you needed grandiose people and Minds yes and it sounds like those Minds helped you with your mentality going through life is that a accurate statement yes I would say so I mean I they just had so much courage and it was really I was really an awe of these people and they were all so brilliant and I just couldn't believe I was you know lucky enough to get to be around them you know and and regarding 53rd Street this is kind of one quirky thing I had to do when I worked for Jerry my job was anytime they wanted to close 53rd Street I had to go to the New York office of film and TV and get the permit to close the street so um every time they saw me coming you know it was one of those kind of government offices and yep and um oh I'd go upstairs and they'd roll their eyes what does he want to do now and I was like well we want to drop you know bowling balls off the building or whatever it was or have and um it was crazy this is amazing I have without understanding and knowing that it was you I have been wanting to talk to you for a long time okay now there's a whole bunch of questions that have now shown up where I didn't know who the person to talk to was okay was this office in the the the office building of the inan theater because there was a city office there right yep yep so that was quite convenient to their much to their dismay because each request was wilder than the last I mean they had to re not just approve closing the street but also sometimes it was like in 20 minutes we really want to close the street to do this and usually there's a long process and all this stuff but they were great and they always helped us out and um yeah and was there lit like was that hyperb or like are there times where no in 20 minutes we want to close the street did that actually happen there were S I can't think of a specific time there were times that it happened so fast maybe it felt like 20 minutes but it could have been 20 minutes I mean there were times where someone had an idea or a lot of times like um you know when the guests would arrive and they would talk to the um producers you know before the show and they'd have an idea like guess what would be funny we want to do XYZ and then everybody would scramble and say that's great and um things would happen and I mean yeah the I mean the props and costumes and the set Scenic Builders and I mean everybody who would just jump and create things that were so incredible in with a moment's notice it was really it was really remarkable absolutely the reflexive uh action of Late Show was astounding um I want to stay on this for for for for a minute because that this is fascinating to me that you would go up and get these approvals can you think of any um moments where there was push back where the city was like no you guys are going too far you're going to have to retool this or rethink this or did they always say yes just loving the fact that Dave was there um no I mean they definitely I had to beg a lot of times um and I think there was one time this is a little off color but we did a remote at Hooters which at the time was kind of across Broadway and around the corner kind of and um they wanted not only they wanted to I can't remember how we we ran we grabbed several women women who were working there and ran them across Broadway um and I can't remember we had to maybe that's not a good example we might have had to have approve that but that also might have been a spur of the- moment thing where someone just held up their hands and you know um all of us ran across but um yeah I'm trying to think if there was a time I mean all the time it was it was a little bit of push back but I don't remember them ever I'm sure they did say no but I don't remember them saying no a specific person in that office where it was just their job or were there a couple people that that were there and you're like oh I hope I get this person today I hope I get oh no there was usually just one person there who rolled her eyes and said what is it today I mean when saw me come when she saw me coming she knew things were going to get a little complicated and um so yeah but it was pretty cool I mean the things like you mentioned before just the ski jumps and oh my gosh the outdoor you know summer rock concerts that we um that they had out there and um that sometimes if it had to be closed off for a long period of time for you know an extensive like building a stage or something that was pretty difficult um and when they had to really staff it with police officers and and but we had Bill dece who was uh do you know Bill I do uh we had we had a really nice chat at uh at Rupert's uh retirement party and I think I think is coming on the show it looks like he's going to be coming on and I'm pretty excited about that bill deay is his stories have stories my goodness oh he used to tell some stories but he was always great because he had an in you know with the NYPD so um if we needed some extra people you know to direct traffic and when it closed it was um it's Midtown it was it caused a lot of disruption so he was always great to help um get whoever we needed uh was it always Jerry who sent you to do these things or were there a plethora of people who who who might at a moment's notice or or with advanced notice need to close off 53rd Street they would it was always Jerry it would always come through Jerry but he would what would happen is he'd you know here in rehearsal okay we're going to need XYZ and then he came to me he called me or came up to me and told me yeah um that is this is this is awesome uh talking about this stuff I love it so much uh moving over to Jerry now for a second um I if there was an unenviable Shadow to be in Hal gurns might be uh the tallest when it comes from a from a technical standpoint in in television uh history Jerry Foley took over for Hal gurnie is this right at the time when you got hired is that was that Ascension oh my gosh yeah you talk about big shoes to fill um but Jerry had been there for a while and I mean obviously had the tone of the show and all of that stuff obviously they tapped the right guy because he was there till the end I mean if there is a guy to take over for Hal gurny Jerry Foley certainly showed that he was the guy uh was there nervousness and trepidation as he was moving into that role you know I think similar to the people I was describing earlier on I'm sure there had to have been some nervousness but he was from what I could tell just of the Mind well here I am I'm enough to have gotten this gig so let's just go for it and give it all we've got you know and it's not that I mean day-to-day stress I mean that show moves fast and things change and you know um and I'm sure that was stressful for him but boy he just jumped right into it and he it is true because he was TD before he really he knew um so much about where about the cameras and he also knew all the players it wasn't like he was coming in fresh and had to meet everybody and he had a good rapport with all the cameramen already and um for sure um that being said it's late show with David Letterman uh the director is a character in the show and and it was established that way very early on maybe not an onscreen camera um I I know Jerry didn't do near as much Voice work as Hal did but a character nonetheless like he needed to know when he was going to do that shot of somebody in the audience or or or somebody like you know in the middle of an interview or in the middle of Dave doing something and then shooting somewhere else to add that comedic effect um you know and and I mean just did an incredible job of taking that taking that roll over uh were you in the control room with him during Showtime most of the time yeah on the nights um that I was stage managing obviously I was out on the stage but um or backstage but other otherwise yes I was in the control room every night so I usually sit next to shecky or sometimes um Jude Brennan was there and different producers if it was their segment they'd come down to the control room but I was in the back row there yeah oh that's interesting that's interesting so if somebody produced um a certain segment they would come down just for that segment into the control room sometimes they would it depended what was happening on stage sometimes they'd stand at the podium out on the stage and be there it just it really depended but it so it wasn't always the exact same people every night in the back row people would come and go but but I was there and Chucky and um yeah Amy Ruben was there for a long time yeah she's somebody I want to talk to as well uh was Vinnie there at your T during your time oh yeah toward yeah toward um end of my time there Vinnie was there and he was great too and always laughing his head off and yeah really nice man big fan of Vinnie fali I'm a big fan of that guy um me too yeah he's fantastic uh okay so you get the job as Jerry's assistant you guys are kind of uh defining the job I suppose uh from from where you started to when when it ended what did it um if you were to be in the middle somewhere when you kind of figured out you got your legs under you uh you kind of knew what you're doing what would an average day look like for you from hours was there routine to it obviously with the chaos of having to do things OB but was there sort of a routine to it yes I mean I I um around I know Chris shukai remembered the whole entire schedule when I listened to his podcast it was like hour by hour and I thought my God how did this man remember every hour but um I know I usually got in around 9:30 10 and my job was to try to keep Jerry's um he had a big like uh whiteboard calendar in his office and you know listing what guests were on each day and um that week and actually that month but it changed constantly so I tried to keep that updated for him so in the morning I would try to give the most updated get that information from the talent Department which was also on 11 down the hall so um try to get that info from them and then um and write it on his board and then the other thing that I did for him was um he was really amazing shooting the music for the day you know whoever was on whatever the musical act was on so what I would do is um is write down all you know there was no like internet to search lyrics but I would listen to the song over and over and write down all the lyrics as best as I could understand and divide it into measures each line I divided into musical measures and then during musical rehearsal um we would be out on stage Jerry would go out and like kind of catch and on my notes when I divided it into measures I would write like drum solo here or guitar solo here whatever and then he'd we'd all go down to rehearsal and Jerry would kind of decide what shots he wanted to get and um he would write out kind of a long shot sheet um for different places in the song and then um I would you know copy those and then right before the music happened I'd run out on stage and hand out all these sheets to the camera guys and they would clip it to their next to their camera so they could see as the taping was going on um where they were roughly supposed to go next and when and um yeah and then someone in the control room sometimes it was me usually it was Jessica Santini would um count kind of Jerry through the song and say drum solo now you know and um and then Jerry would call the camera so it was it was a whole process and it ended up working really well and Jerry was just so um great at getting all those catching all those little moment moments and um in the music but that was that was a really fun part of my job to get to do that are you a music fan Amy um a music fan I mean I have a little bit of a musical background yeah so and I love music um so some of these people when they were on it was pretty exciting um for me um so yeah that's where I'm going with it because um boy oh boy you get to see these world class um uh music of every genre IM imaginable from from from from obscure but amazing all the way to the top of Pop Culture um and everything in between but you got a job to do and you're and you're trying to be Technical and all that were were were there times where you got caught up and you you you missed something on the list because the music caught you up like were there some moments that you saw that that that stick out um oh my gosh I don't remember I'm sure I made lots of mistakes um definitely because I was in awe of some of these people I mean some of my most memorable moments with musicians were like um just the warm-heartedness of some of them like Dolly Parton would always walk up like if I was in rehearsal hi there darling and she'd give me a big hug and and um you know just like sunshine pouring out of that woman and um and Elvis Costello would sometimes walk up to me on stage and go what do you because he always would bring like some um like sometimes he'd bring like a gospel choir to back him up or some lesser known musician and he was always you know I feel like I don't know if this was his intent but I'd like to think it was that he um always tried to kind of promote people because he had this platform so sometimes he'd walk over and say well what do you think about you know this today he like I was kind of trying this and that and did you like that and I mean he'd want to talk talk about it and I was like I I have no opinion but I'm so happy to listen I mean it was just such an opportunity to be close to these people what you just described there were a lot of people in the pants family who were that who were the people who uh would would would put a hand down to bring people up yeah there are so many examples of that that have been on this show I mean this Show's only been around a year and a half but we have so many examples of folks I mean well right there like Rick alone like there are so many people in the pants family who tried to bring people up and and uh I I don't know about you that that to me that speaks to my heart I love that so much yeah and to hear that there were musicians on the grand of stage doing stuff like that that's uh oh yeah yeah we had I mean there were so many like um the other memorable musician moment for me was when Prince was on and I was backstage that night and at the time time at the time he was the symbol so um his Handler you know I I greeted the Handler first I don't know his manager or who this person was assistant but I said um I'm so sorry but I don't can you tell me what to call him because I don't know how to address him and um because he was a symbol and um he said he will be fine just call him he and I like okay I will and then um I remember they had to uh redecorate his entire dressing room cover covering it in purple satin yeah and um when he was this was the craziest time back St like at the stage door that's the craziest time I can remember was when Prince was on and there were a lot of crazy times but that one was really nuts it was like the Beatles were on or something and um he so I was backstage that night he finishes his song and of course it's amazing and his security guy he ended the ended the song like lying down flat on the stage yeah he did the gun thing and fell down and then the security guy came and picked him up and yeah picked him up like a baby yeah carried him out backstage out through the backstage area to the um you know past the Green Room Prince had a a woman with him that night I don't know who she was but what happened is they stepped outside they went right to the limo he carried him to the limo but as he was carrying him people like people were hurling their bodies over the police barricades um trying to get to him and so the security guard put him in the limo shut the door and drove away and I was left standing with the woman that was with Prince and I had to had to call her another car um so uh yeah that was my main memory of Prince that was an in incredible uh moment and and and and I mean you talk about you know there's all these artists who are larger than life and and I think that um you know I want to be very careful as I talk about this here I don't want to be insensitive in any way shape or form I think that when you get these Larger than Life artists that create this amazing new creative type music um I think in this world now right now there isn't room for the fact that a mind like that is going to be a different mind they're going to think differently they're going to have other eccentricities if you want to call it that uh Prince certainly be an example of that we like we love to celebrate the genius but sometimes the other things that come with that um you know we judge and and they think it's a little bit strange but if you want amazing art you need it from oh and it's just the best yeah I mean when you get to I to me it's like I just loved all those eccentricities because it really made um well it made the job very interesting and exciting and um I just found it so fascinating yeah and you saw a lot you saw a lot of U Crazy musical moments um crazy moments you know in in in your job there uh would you be um I mean Anytime by the way if if if something this is this is jazz you know using musical Motif if if if a memory comes back of music and we're talking about something else throw it in there like like that's that's Fant f um but at the same time I think about some of the extras comedy extras and and and again just a testament to Jerry you're talking about a guy who in my opinion uh you know when talk comes to musical acts in late night I believe Late Show with David Letterman is the top of the Heap we had Harvey Goldberg on here we talked about the audio part of that um you know making the the the the studio but live experience and merging them together um I love that Jerry obviously did that on the visual side of things yes um you know so that he's an expert in but then also when it comes to the comedy extras and things like that and he's got to put different directing caps on you know maybe there's a bit with Alan calter where we're making it look like a Scorsese film or maybe we're gonna make it look like a uh you know a musical Broadway musical you talk about your theater background some of the different things um the different eclectic things in genre that he and his team which you were on were responsible for was unbelievable um was there ever anything that was a stretch or was he just that multi-talented and and and and just had that all in his repertoire well I think it was a team effort a lot of the time you know so so much of the time the producer would know what they would want and talk with Jerry and Jerry had a great relationship with all those people so they could work together you know so I think if there was any any uncertainty I think they knew how to cover each other because everybody had the same goal right everyone wanted to support Dave and make it a great show yeah like that's what it was so whatever it took people and especially you know because of the time crunch I mean it was a new show every day and some and on Thursdays two shows so it was just people were willing to pull together there wasn't time to um let someone sink or swim you know so I think I think Jerry from what from my memory Jerry loved you know he was he was in the control room a lot which I think he loved but I think having the opportunity when he would do remotes there was one I so wanted to go to and they didn't let me go I begged they went they did a remote um in stings apartment in Manhattan and um you know there was stuff like that I think Jerry probably loved doing that and um you know different opportunities he had to work directly with the talent was probably a lot of fun because he went to film school I mean he's he's a film guy abolutely yeah yeah so he he he pivoted pretty easily I think uh it sounds like you all did um and and had to it was just like you say a necessity of the of the job was to be versatile um did you go on a lot of Comedy uh remote extras I Oh you mean as a per like as a being a extra in the thing no oh sorry um uh sorry uh uh like extras the the writers call them extras they're like the little a remote or something yeah like a those um I went on some yes I did um usually the ones I went on was just because I was like in a bunny suit or something um in it but I didn't do a lot of the like if they were I did one actually one remote that's really sticks out to me was Alan culture was the announcer at this moment and we were in San Francisco and um they sent us out with a camera guy and Allan just stood on WE Ro rode the um trolleys or whatever you know those on the street cars and um he would just yell out is everything okay there uh it's not one second here hold on what what just happened okay it seems no maybe we are okay we good I think we're good it seems recording all that a window just popped up and I just had to get rid of it I apologize for that no that's okay I didn't see the window on my end so I was like oh no I thought you got some bad news or something I no no no sorry yeah no a window popped up in the middle of it and I'm like oh God no I want this story so badly I love Alan cure so much so you guys are in San Francisco sorry about that so you're in sanco that's okay so yeah we were in San Francisco riding these um street cars or trolleys and up and down um half the day and with a camera guy filming him and he would just Allan would just the bit was he would just stand there and while riding the street car and say um bring me sourdough in this big you know voice and um and of course I was running behind him you know getting people to sign releases so that if they appeared on the show that night um which was complicated because people were jumping on and off and keeping track of all that was crazy but um yeah but that was a that was a fun fun time doing that so you traveled with the show to San Francisco where else did you travel with the show um where did I go um we did San Francisco a couple times Los Angeles Miami um so I went on several I went on a lot and um I mean they did what they started doing they used to bring everybody at the beginning when we started traveling and then they started doing these kind of like World Tour things where they would bring a smaller crew and I didn't end up going on those but San Francisco was one of the best I have a great story about San Francisco want to hear it yeah yes of course I do I wish I could remember the other guests but I will say in my memory so the way it went was we were in San Francisco that night Tom Hanks he was definitely on and Robin Williams and there was one other guest and we were all backstage and and I was you know found myself chatting with them and it came to be that Robin Williams was going to just go to a bar in San Francisco with a little stage some tiny little place you know that seated maybe 50 people and he said you know I'm going to show up and surprise them and I'm going to do some standup if you guys want to come so there were you know a group of my friends and we said are you kidding of course we do so we went and um he surprised everyone and he did stand up I mean it must have been three hours straight he just didn't stop and I mean I couldn't breathe I was actually like ill from laughing so hard it was just the most amazing amazing memory yeah do you remember who you were with do you remember who all went uh I'm sure you I was really good friends at the time I'd have to ask them um Leslie Cahill and um gosh Lorraine and um I don't I I don't know who else was there I just remember it's like you know my field of vision was like gone and I was zeroed in on Robin Williams and I just couldn't believe once again I mean I just was black and blue from pinching myself all the time that I was so lucky to get to be around these people and have these experiences I mean I still cannot believe it seems like a you know it was so long ago it just seems like a dream like another lifetime you know what a precious thing to have inside your memory banks um you're you're you actually segue really really nicely here Robin Williams is a good example of this uh sometimes you would bring have a guest come on the show who would want something extra like whether it's an entrance whether it is a pre-tape uh you know some some some of the guests who came on the show they took it very very seriously and and of course became friends of the show because of that because they understood that this wasn't just promoting a movie this wasn't this is a special deal let's do something special for it uh do you have any memories of some of those guests like Bruce Willis Steve Martin these are the ones that come to mind immediately who wanted to do stuff beforehand or outside of the show uh any memories guests who came on that wanted to do something that might have been a little bit out of the norm I should have those memories um but I it was a long time ago so I must say I remember all those pre-tapes happening and how crazy it would be and last minute and I remember you know everybody rushing to make it happen and Jerry running downstairs and you know early trying to get it done but I do not remember specific stories I'm just you know that's okay okay because that's actually where the question was going so let's just put Steve Martin in as a placeholder you know um and I mean you know one of the uh there there was always little pre-tapes with Steve that he would do that kind of a thing were there ever times where you had a day's notice and and and we're gonna do this it's GNA be really special it's gonna be good but it's going to interrupt the the the flow of our day was there a lot of that oh yeah I mean all the time I mean I think no matter what the production meeting was the production meeting and rehearsal time was always rehearsal time and and then music rehearsal was always music rehearsal and of course taping was just it was it had to start I believe it was 5:30 and um and that just those things were constants in the day but then the rest of it was kind of you just never knew what was going to happen day to day and um and that was very exciting yeah isn't that funny how the the routine of the day is a taping of the show which you guys tried to make it look live as much as possible it was a live experience you know the band playing through the commercial breaks real time you wanted to get her done in an hour if you could that was the goal the gold standard um you know but that's the most normal time of the day when some people would look at an environment like that and go oh my God that's the craziest time of the day that speaks right there to what uh the production of of latea was like um did did any q&as ever go Ary I mean there's lots of uh lots of memories especially at the beginning of of the Q&A being something where Dave would literally if it was 5:30 if they were in the middle of something sometimes drop the microphone and go back and start um any Q&A stories oh gosh you're asking me and I I should um no no no no it's all good it's all good not that I can remember I think um yeah they had I mean they had security there so I know that there were times that they had to they had some super fans who maybe wanted to you know go up on stage and things like that um that wasn't really maybe occasionally he took a picture with someone but not usually and um so I know that there was security around to make sure that that no crazy people or I shouldn't say crazy no very enthusiastic enthusiastic little too enthusiastic yeah um ran up to the you know and and just to keep everybody safe and whatever but um yeah I don't remember any of them go but I remember it would go down to the last millisecond sometimes and yeah just as you describe drop the mic and run and run backstage and there it started and it happened very very fast um you you probably don't know this about me I I had a a Q&A moment with Dave oh I don't know that yeah and it it happened to be it was in the New York Times and um so that's a month before he retired and that's Dave Dave talking to Paul going Paul those Canadians are supposed to be you know polite and all this sort they using me as a comedy speed bag and me loving every second of it the New York Times happened to capture it um the reason I bring that up is not to be self-aggrandizing although I will do that from time to time um it's because one of the greatest things I love that moment it was fantastic one of the greatest moments of my life but then it's got a nice little um suffix on the end of it and that is the first da we finish our conversation Dave goes back show starts he comes out to do the monologue first thing he does is makes a reference to our talk and as Hal gurnie pioneered way back in the day this is a month before retirement Jerry or somebody in the control room says okay cut to that guy and they show me in the audience amazing OB that which is you know every Letterman Fan's kind of dream is to have that that moment where there's a reference to something that happened earlier and then the cut right a Hallmark so you guys have to pay attention to what's going on at all times so you know to make that cut if possible and was there a standard camera person that that that that said okay you're the person who we're gonna you know get you into the audience real fast or get you to this or get you to that to be in position sort of on the Fly was it one one person or was more than I don't know if it was more than if it was always the same camera guy but more than once I remember Jerry saying okay you know cover to one of his cameramen make sure you cover her because I bet he's going to go back to her in the monologue you know he would he would listen um to the Q&A and make sure someone if something like that happened he was always on it and and you know he did it a long time Jerry so I think at first you know oh maybe he missed missed one and then there was that was you know um difficult and probably never did it again I mean that's the thing with that show um I think you try not to make mistakes and and like what you were what when we were talking about the schedule um the taping schedule it was so I mean they did every I I can't even maybe once or twice that we had to go back and ret tape something yeah but that was it I mean really they tried to make it like a live show so what you were seeing was really what happened it was rare that something was reted yeah I I I saw the show live twice and both times I was astounded at Whenever there would be any sort of flub up how they would just keep rolling and you had to watch for it like you had to really really watch yeah and same with edits like not a lot of stuff ended up on The Cutting Room floor and and I mean the the um the narrative is that later on Dave got more and more talkative and and and the editor's job we're actually gonna have two or three of the editors come on here and we're gonna have a really good uh podcast coming up it's it's yeah it's GNA be a lot of fun um but but how tight the recording was and and the show itself was uh is abolutely astounding yeah also Jessica and Randy really they were the ones that were in the edit every night um for a for hours I mean they worked really long hours to make that look look like it was perfect you know um and they really did a great job with that shaving off a second here or there and it came out looking like it was you know um like it all happened exactly that way yeah uh during taping were there ever times that you can remember where it's like okay here's a moment like where it was something whether it was a guest whether what were some of those things that come to mind when I say that oh my gosh I mean um the night Drew Barrymore it was it was Dave's birthday I guess and she didn't tell anyone she was going to do this and she climbed up on his desk you know and turned her back to the audience and lifted her shirt as a gift to Dave and um people just went wild and everyone in the control room was just howling I mean it was just one of those crazy crazy moments that people couldn't believe I love hearing that um we had Dan Kellon on who who who that segment and uh and he he talked about it from his perspective I love hearing you talk about it how we were all howling in the control room I love what did he say what I'm curious what he said about it um so he it was a nice drawn out story because he talked about uh there was a there was a I forget the the name of the bar there was a bar in New York that Drew had just gone to uh that was sort of very Avant guard very kind of free and all this kind of stuff they're having this conversation and um he certainly didn't tell her to do that however the conversation went far enough along that Paul had to be tipped in to have some uh have some have some of that uh you know Swanky BL type music on on on on on the ready just in case something were to happen happen uh did definitely mention that it was his birthday um and so yeah seeds were certainly planted for something to happen uh but I love that uh the fact that that that you guys weren't necessarily tipped off on that I think there's a there's an art to uh producing something where you know something is going to happen versus the spontaneity uh David Letterman as a broadcaster and as a performer and Entertainer certainly an a master at making something spontaneous or something planned looked like it was spontaneous but part of the secret sauce was also no we're going to keep this as spontaneous for people like the director or something like that so absolutely and you may interview Jerry if he ever decides to do this and um he may say I knew something was happening but to my memory in the control room it was like people went wild I mean there were I wish I could think of more moments I know there were many others I mean there was a um I hesitate to bring it up but the Farah facet episode um y we've talked about it here on the show and and yeah please please do all respect to Farah and and where she was at and all that abely yeah and Dave by the way handled her it's not like Dave went and started using her like he Dave could have gone the other way and because the audience was sort of starting to turn or whatever and Dave kind of protected her we just talked about that with Joanna Jordan so yeah anyway to preface so to preface please go ahead and talk about Farah yeah I mean I don't know that I have much to say except that it was shocking to everybody and um people were could not believe it I mean it was just kind of stunning the way the the segment went and then they made the decision to bump the other guests and just keep her on because it was so so riveting y um but I think people had mixed feelings about that and you know um sorry I have a howling old lady cat in the background oh we're good no hear and um so it was just um yeah it was it was quite shocking when that happened and um yeah and there was a lot of reaction in the control room with that too I mean there you know even when you plan things things happen or you know it's like no matter how planned the show was there were so many times that people would be shocked by what was actually happening and um and it was fun I mean I laughed always you know I always every day I I laughed and that was a really great part about the job uh you get there at 10: in the morning so at this point you know you know you're deep into your time with uh being Jerry's assistant uh what time do you leave on an average is there an average yeah I mean I was kind of lucky because I would had nothing to do with the edits so um as much I did try to a few times to have something to do with the edit but it just wasn't my job and so I hung out sometimes and watched them work and was just amazed by what they did but um yeah so usually by I don't know 7:30 8 o'clock I was out the door and usually everybody was meeting at McGee's next door you took the words right out of my mouth I was gonna ask if you ever yeah so all the I mean McGee we were there all the time and um that was just great and yeah I mean those people were really at that time my best friends and family and and um have so many memories of you know uh Christmas parties at wman rink and all kinds of fun things we got to do yeah because we worked there yeah did you I always ask this because I just I'm so fascinated with them I want to have I I don't know if it's Lori or da I I don't know who I'm gonna have to talk about that but did you ever keep any of the jackets I have almost all my jackets I gave one to my mother and it was my favorite one but she which one was it it was the one that said um it was just blue felt it didn't have the yellow leather sleeves yeah and it said Ed Sullivan on it ah I have that one I love that one that was the first one I love yeah that was a good one and she lost it so that one's gone but the others um I have that's tragic I know I know the other ones I have and um they are kind of important to me and and like you're in Massachusetts so like I'm in I'm in western Canada so like I'm I'm excited for fall I love jacket season and especially I love I wear mine do you ever wear yours no I never wear them they're kind of you know taken care of I've thought about pulling one out but sometimes those big leather you know yellow sleeves um I don't know I loved the all felt one and Jerry made um there was one uh Christmas you know we'd always give a gift from Jerry to the staff and um some kind of branded merch and um one year we made kind of like a pullover rain jacket thing that said it was very it was just black and it just said late show but in Black so it was very you know lowkey as Jerry is and um and I still wear that one sometimes because you can't really you know it's not loud off camera I'll I'll send you I think I have one I it's it's it's not black though it's blue but it's a it's certainly a windbreaker type and it's very thin and all that and it just says Late Show on on it um oh yeah somebody from the that came from Jerry that's that's that's that's very very cool I love the Christ the gift um the holiday gift traditions I just literally was talking to Barbara about one one year she gave an iPod out a little iPod Shuffle out to everybody I think it was ' 06 so would have been after my time but um finding out who some of these gifts are and what they gave again this is a testament to the creativity of people on the I love how the department heads did that and it was just so neat um the family that you had there off camera you and I talked about that just for a moment and then we'll get back to some more memories here um this was a family to you you said off camera and I hope I'm not telling Tales out of school this is a seminal point in your life oh yeah absolutely I mean um I just it was a time that I made a big change in my you know career and um landed just by I don't know pure luck in this place and with these people that were so wonderful and um yeah they really it was it was a very important part of my life yeah my only regret is that I left wow yeah yeah it was it was an amazing place and um yeah and it it afforded me a lot of great experiences that I will never forget yeah I appreciate you saying that very very much um gosh okay I I I had a question and then you were saying that and I got taken with what you were saying it's really sweet right from what's that no tell me you ask me first um it just it got to my heart you saying that and and I mean um again I'm coming off of just being there and talking to so many people um and and and some of the people hadn't been in the theater since uh the last night and and seeing them come in there for Rupert's you know going away and and and just the mixture of emotion emotions was um it was palpable and and everything from you know the Glee of a high school reunion type thing to The Nostalgia of seeing something you haven't seen in a long time or being in a place it was it was a very surreal feeling um I love that you all have that that's one of the reasons why uh that the show exists is because I think that's important um to go back to you for a second you started in theater you then move over over and pivot and and and television starts becoming part of your repertoire and then you end up stage managing on a theater that's kind of a combination of both is that a is that a thing were there were some of the theater things there when you were helping to Stage manage or was it completely different no I mean it was different but I have to say it was just the Best of Both Worlds and I um I had begged for a couple years to be a stage manager but I wasn't in the DGA the union the director Guild of America and so um they said no um not until you you know but to joining the DGA it's like you know actor's Equity it's like you have to get a show that's DGA to be in it but you have to you know it's like that catch22 thing you already have to have your card to be able to work on one so I um I begged and begged to no avail so then I went I somehow I called some guy I can't even remember remember his name and I wish I did because I would thank him now um over at CBS News who hired all the um Pas and stuff and I talked him into letting me I said just let me observe on the morning news on the set just so I can kind of like learn what was expected of me and being a PA on the Morning News is one of the most stressful things I've ever experien so I I I actually I did observe and for a couple months and he was they would send cars and I would go down at like 3:34 in the morning um my apartment was on 10 107th in Broadway and they would pick me up and I'd go down there they even paid me to observe I think and um and then I would I would do that show or you know work on that show and then um go to the um Late Show building and I had about an hour I would I don't even know if Jerry knows that I did this but no one was in the building yet so I would just sleep on that couch in his office for like an hour and then and then by 10 o'clock I was up and I would do the whole day at late show but anyway um so the finally one it was just once again A Stroke of Luck they called me one morning I wasn't supposed to be in at the news to observe and they said quick our PA is sick if we can send a car now will you um we'll get you into the Union we'll get you in and um so I said great so I went down there and I did it and then Biff and Corky signed my union card and it was it was just like a an amazing moment and then I could stage manage so um I did that for you know whenever they needed they had extra remotes or um yeah something on 53rd Street or someone else went out to do a remote and I was backstage or you know whatever they needed Amy that is so damn cool like I I so this is ambition coming out of you like wanting this and and and just okay so I'm gonna hustle and I'm gonna I'm gonna you know be that extra go that extra mile to make this happen and then for it actually to happen um yes how how how how long of a time frame are we talking here six months are we talking like that's I didn't have to do the morning news that long thank God because I don't think my nervous system could have taken it I mean it was really intense there and um not oh man um I'll never I I that was really an intense time but I did it and I'm grateful for it and um it taught me a lot and then yeah so it was only a few months that I had to do that and and the guy I remember he kept saying to me I keep getting in trouble for paying you I don't know how you talked me in to doing this and and and I would just say well you know let's just keep going come on and um and then yeah and then it happened and and um yeah and I did I eventually what happened is I really I mean I loved being on that you know being on the stage working with everybody being uh backstage it was and I loved the control room too it was amazing but I really wanted to do more stage managing and um So eventually I moved to Los Angeles thinking I was going to do a bunch more and um I the only work I really did in La was remotes for Late Show when they and um so I did that and um that was great but um yeah it was wonderful I loved that just the way it worked out I can't believe it okay so we got to talk about Biff and Corky here for a second we haven't had um a stage manager on here yet and and and so I want to talk about that a little bit because yeah um a different animal very different animal obviously doing that compared to what you were doing before yes um describe that a little bit any memorable moments uh from being a stage manager um yeah I mean it was crazy well one that my kids love to hear was um when I Johnny Depp was on yeah and um I was backstage with Johnny Depp and it was it was way back when so he you know he was famous for sure but he he was young and um telling a story about Jack Nicholson I believe if that's the one I'm thinking of anyway no this is just a little I don't even know who knows this story except my kids but um and and the Tommy who did the sound probably saw it but um but we were standing backstage and he was getting you know Dave was doing his intro and and Johnny Depp turned to me and he was shaking like he was literally he was so scared he was shaking and he said can I hold your hand and um so I said of course and so he I said you're gonna be okay you're gonna you know you're going to be okay and I held his hand and then he was called and then he went on so this is in the the wings Right Where Da would come out that's where you were at that point okay yes that is uh so was he longer hair sunglasses Johnny Depp or was he clean cut uh I think he was longer hair he was pretty you know was kind of scraggly and and um and I just remember him shaking like a leaf I mean he was just terrified it is I mean that was really it was Dave was you know so smart so intelligent in the questions asked yeah that I feel like it was intimidating for some of the guests and they wanted to do the right thing say the right thing you know I was talking with Joanna Jordan about this a few weeks ago and and and uh like I know that this you guys just so you know and I'm gonna say this I got to Proclaim this um you and and your cohorts the family are always going to be the star of this show this show here as far as I'm concerned the a-listers that I get are are are are a like you're an a-lister well I mean that's very kind of you but hardly no it's the truth no it's the truth like that is that is what this show is but I do want it to evolve to a place where we can get some of these people who had this reverence for Dave that they weren't allowed to talk about because segment producers beat it out of them that says Dave does not want to know how much you care about the the sketch he did or the the remote he did back in the day at late night he doesn't care that you love him that we're not going to talk about that we're going to talk about other things but I want this to be a venue for people like moments like that where they talk about how you know these biggest people in the world terrified or or or Reverend or or whatever you want to call uh you know the Adoration that they have for Dave um that's a really really sweet moment and a sweet example you got to see it and this is one of the things that we want to put out on this show is how many people were like that they just had ultimate respect for Dave and uh absolutely yeah go for it Mike I hope it happens oh yeah ABS sure will I'm sure it will um yeah another another um story similar to that was Tom Hanks yeah um this is back in New York though and we were back in the wings and and um he was waiting to go on and he asked me he was you know he he was together and he he was a regular guest pretty much on the show but he um he asked me to make sure his tie you know to straighten his Tai and I mean of course Mr Hanks you know what I I straighten his but I just thought I was gonna die I mean I was like okay that was that was a pretty cool moment I got to straighten Tom hanks's tie um anyway yeah but he wanted to make sure he was just so going on you know so there really was a reverence and a respect I think from um a lot of most probably of the people going on there certainly was um so let's let's talk about the stage managing would you be doing that job if Biff was away on a remote or something like that is that when they would tap you to say okay come on up Bill Biff's at the at the Super Bowl right now you got to come up here and and and do this or yes I was yes that was what would happen and sometimes I mean sometimes they'd call in you know a couple others over from CBS and then there was a guy Frankie who would um stage manage as an extra as a third and um sometimes we'd have four on that night you know it just depended what was going on and if you things um going on like the Hooters moment I mentioned to you the remote inside Hooters um I had a camera guy with me I was stage managing that night and and um my headset went out which was disaster because I had to know like where everybody had to be Jerry was telling me in the headset and so thank God the camera guy there his headset was still alive and he had to do the whole thing and I I mean I was I was terrified I mean I I couldn't believe um that I couldn't I I didn't know what to do anyway um so then there would be someone else you know two others there's always one on the stage yeah at all times you know and then one back in the wings and then whoever needed to be with different remotes that went live during the show uh you just you just segwayed beautifully into a question that I had um when you started stage managing I assume the experience that you had in the control room and understanding the flow of the direction part of the show served you very very well um and and helping to flow it from from from that perspective as well that was probably a lot of cool things that you know the fact that it would be Jerry in your in your ear like that's a that's a good thing right there right yes I felt very comfortable with Jerry um there so you know telling me what to do and I mean I I was new at it and it was like the biggest show on television so I'm sure I screwed up um you you know a few times for sure but um but I did really um yeah I think it helped knowing who everybody was and I had been used to handing out those shot sheets to the camera gu so I was kind of familiar with them and um so it do that that those days um that they said okay you can stage manage I you know cheered plus I got paid a little more so that was nice too yeah absolutely that that Union that that sweet Union money people have always asked like we have we've had um Biff's son came on the show here we haven't had bi on and and there's a chance that he might come on with his dad which would be kind of neat if we did it that way um but there's been a lot of people who have asked me to say okay what exactly does a stage manager do you know it seems like Biff's available whenever Dave calls for him it seems he's right there it seems that he's there you know when Dave runs out but what uh what would you say that uh job description of the stage manager would be for who don't know mostly it depends where you are in the building you know what your job is that day but as a stage manager but um Biff being on stage would be in charge of um Counting people into commercial and out of commercial so a lot of times you know he's giving the you know um sign to it's it's time for commercial it's time for commercial if Dave and the guest are having a great you know conversation you're an ey shot with Dave and you're saying you know two minutes one minute kind of yeah exactly so counting down and then counting then coming back you know the commercials were all that time slot you know because you've been there many times but how they count them back in from the so-called commercial break and um yeah so that's the the stage manager that's there on stage is mainly responsible for that and then the one backstage is mostly you know making sure you've got your next guest who's coming on or and um making sure you know everything back everybody has what they need and um and usually like a a producer would you know come back there and make sure walk their guest back there and make sure you like I said it's a team effort so and then um and you're communicating so Biff was communicating with the control room with Jerry when he was on stage and same with backstage as we mentioned and then if you're on a remote um if all goes well you're also communicating it's basically you're the conduit between the control room and what's happening and you know live in front of you yeah yeah what would you do uh during a rehearsal would you would you would you need to know the Beats of the show and and the stage manager paying attention a lot did they make decisions as to how things would go rehearsal um yeah they made decisions definitely and we would um we would go to also to the production meetings in the morning so um so that was you know we knew kind of roughly what was going on um that day yeah yeah um yeah no go go ahead no go ahead you tell me so when you were uh meetings at the beginning of the day is another really good uh you know example so so when you were working for Jerry would would you go would you ever go to the writers meetings things like that or or was it like when the Raiders had an extra to pitch things like that did they come down and find you guys um yes usually um you know usually oftentimes they would come down and say you got to meet with Jerry and Jerry wasn't there we'd find him or um or Jerry would say you know his phone would ring and send Jerry up we're talking about something else and Jerry would go running up the stairs I mean there was that you didn't have to take you know there were those stairs between the different floors so yeah um where you didn't have to take the elevator every time so I don't know how many times a day he went running up and down those stairs but quite a lot and I was mostly just kind of gatekeeper if someone needed him you know help them find him or tell Jerry someone stopped by it was that kind of thing Goa gotcha yeah yeah um this this one's going to sound like it's out of the blue but it's sort of an inside uh story that's happened a narrative that's happening within the Letterman podcast and people outside of it were you there when the microphone got stolen no you weren't there when that happened okay did you hear about that no tell me well um there was a there there was a time where the uh the microphone that Dave had stolen from n BC and brought over with him and I mean there's a lot of history behind that that microphone was stolen and it was right around the time that the set design changed to the new bridge set um and and uh I've always I always wanted to hear the perspective of people who were around uh the control because it was it was kept down there um and that's I should know I should know I wonder I probably was there then because I was there when the set changed but I don't know yeah yeah yeah um and and uh anyway the person who who stole the microphone has you know he he's a friend of the show and whatnot and they've they they've talked he's talked with Barbara and wal like there's there's it's out there now but it's a pretty it's a pretty fun story but I always I always ask the question to somebody who might have been there during the time if if what their perspective was ums yeah that's a big that's a big story there oh yeah another one of the hard-hitting stories that we try and uncover here at the Letterman well that's a that's a good behind the scenes one because I was there and I don't remember it so that was that's pretty good it's uh I I I've got stuff I'll send you outside of this if ever you want to go down a rabbit hole and kill some time absolutely love to do that um I just appreciate your time here um now I I love to have a little bit of popar I'm gonna finish by asking uh you know what you're doing now and and what life looks like now uh you know this is a seminal part of your life and I want to make sure if there's anything that you did want to talk about any stories that have come to you that that that you want to throw out here um and by the way staning invite anytime you want to come back here if you think of a story that you just want to tell we'll fire it up even for five or 10 minutes and throw it out there to do it like I I want this to be a place where all of the family can come here at any time and tell a story so know that you have a standing invite for that Amy like I thank mean that from the bottom of my heart so um is there anything else at the time at Letterman because I want to talk about your decision to leave and you're moving on and going to La a little bit I want to get there um is there anything about the time of the show that you want to uh reiterate here before we move to that phase I don't think so I think I've I've said it though you know I'll wake up in the middle of the night and I'll say oh my God I missed that story but for right now yeah yeah exactly I'll keep that um notepad next to my bed um and um but otherwise yeah I mean it was just I think I've said most of what I mean of course there's just so many stories but most of what I wanted to say yeah oh I appreciate that very much you were there for about six years about yeah and and and so um painful decision to leave was it ambition like I mean you you clearly have this ambition ambition yeah and it definitely yeah and I um I went I was able to get I decided to go and I knew that worldwide pants was producing um Show with Craig Late Late Show with Craig kilborne absolutely they were about to do that and so at my exit interview with Dave I said um which I don't know how I got I don't know if everybody does those or not but I I got wa wait what hold on you had an actual exit interview with David Letterman yeah okay so he chatted with me for a long time I mean a long time he had popcorn he just like he's you know had a big bowl of popcorn and um said okay and so we hung out in his office Lori Diamond was outside she kept kind of checking in saying are you do you need anything you know and I just kind of talked about my time there and then I asked him I said I don't want to be too forward but could I stage manage um the late the new Late Late Show and I'm going out to LA I kind of like took a chance and he said sure and he called up I guess it was Rob brunette at the time and he said um Amy's you know going out to LA and why don't we put her on the show and I mean I was there in the room and um we shook hands and I said thank you very much and I moved to LA I gave up my apartment I drove out there and when I got to La there was I moved in with an old friend from college and and um there was a massive massive bouquet of flowers I mean it covered like our whole dining room table that said um they were stunning and it said good luck in la love Dave and um so and then I got to meet Brian Mallon was the director and I met with him and I he took my meeting I went to his office and he said so what can I do for you and I said well I moved out here and I thought I was stage managing this show and and um anyway total miscommunication it was not it was you know he Craig kilborne had hired his guy which was great you know that was fine and um and he was Brian couldn't have been nicer and I was naive I just kind of like went out there on a wing in a prayer hoping I had the job I didn't sign a contract or anything I just hoped wow and because in the past stuff worked out for me talk about a life uh event life lesson whatever you want to call it oh my gosh I took the leap and it didn't you know but the but the very long story probably longer than you wanted to know story with this is I um once again this is before internet and all that stuff so the only contact I had no money I had spent everything on buying a car and moving to La so the only contact I had was on the back of the card from the flower shop was the number of the flower shop and they were really pretty flowers so I called them and I said do you need you know I need a job and they hired me at the flower shop and um it turned out to be they're still there Mark's Garden um on ventur shout out to Mark's Garden thanks for helping a girl out while she was in time of need God Amy and it ended up being like the premiere like they supplied flowers for all the studios and I would take and so I would answer the phones and take messages and so suddenly I knew like everything that was going on like people that were getting hired and you you got connected inadvertently in this Bizarro way and um so it was actually I had a great time working there and then in the meantime you know Late Show would call me if they did a remote like on the roof of CBS um out in La I would stage manage that and um and then I was in LA and I worked at some other shows I worked a little bit like um on uh what was it I I was on Drew Cary show yeah and um got on the set got myself on the set of friends and the X Files and um did a few others but nothing how cool was friends did you sit on the couch um I did not get to go to the couch I um yeah I only got As far as like maybe the craft Services table but um that's where that's where I would have stopped too which was which was like all zone so it wasn't fun fun anyway it was all like diet food and um so um so anyway yeah and then at the I decided about eight months later um eight months to a year I was like you know I really I'm a New Yorker through and through and I said um I'm gonna move back so I drove my car and literally I was in Iowa and my cell phone rang and it was Brian maon and he said okay we're ready to train you to start working on the show and I said well I'm headed back to New York the phone Call's a little too late but thank you so much so they did follow through on Wow the offer to hire me but it just happened a little later than I thought it would and um so yeah that's and then when I got back to New York I did um do some they they would page me or call me and I freelanced as a stage manager from time to time and then I started working a lot in um Jerry's sister Jerry Foley's sister Joanne yeah was um working at a corporate um production house they did you know all kinds of corporate meetings and when I got back to New York and needed a job she hired me over there and um so I started doing those and I met my husband and I was traveling all the time with um with that company so ended up not doing as much you know of the show and then I had kids and that was that was that but family becomes the the the center focal point um absolutely yeah and that was great too and I mean but I even brought I think a couple times I brought my kids by the stage door um and you know during music rehearsal and they'd say come in you know and brought us in to get to watch so I mean they were still and I've been I went to the that first reunion after the show ended and that was really amazing and um so over time I've seen people a few times of course then you know I have some dear friends who I still see whenever humanly possible um that were spread out around the country talking about the reunion you know um and I'm not telling Tales out of school here uh uh in in in saying this I've actually said it in another episode that actually hasn't aired so it's yeah a little bit of time travel I'm going to say this and it's already aired another episode um when uh rert was gonna go out like we have one sponsor here at the Letterman podcast it's Rupert Gene the hell Deli and and and um I just I love rert and may to death and and um when rert had decided to sell the deli I'd said to him I said okay so what's going to happen is there going to be a thing and he's like no I think I'm just going to ride off into the sunset and um and and and when the pants people found out about this when Walter when Walter himself found out about this uh he went to rert and said no we need to do something um we need to have a a reunion of some sort and rert was like well I don't know and he goes no no no you don't understand it's been the trend has been we're only getting together when someone dies um we need to get together when something wonderful happens and and and and um at that point rert agreed to it which is a sweet story in of itself to everybody it shows Rupert's humbleness but then it shows the the desire uh one thing I got to say to you is I hope our paths are going to cross at one of these future reunions you know I hope it I hope that this event ignited people's uh idea of doing more of these to celebrate things because it is a family um you know and and you go off and you have your own family and and and and and and your life shifts but that point in your life you know even that you talk about friends um you know when Mark Hoffman talks about what friends was it was the idea of this group of people that were each other's family before they went out and got married and had families and that was what the premise of the show was um you know I think about Carter and Craig with How I Met Your Mother uh the the bar in that show was based on McGee it was based on what you guys did together as a family and um I could not be more uh excited and honored to watch and to and to be a part of this in in that way I hope our paths cross at a future event but I hope so too yeah I want to talk about your son your son just is is is got a book that has just he's just written and is coming out I'm couldn't be more excited can you talk about what your son's doing and and um he is 17 years old he's a senior in high school and he um he's a techie a Tech Guy and um wants to go to university for computer engineering and he um he has spent most of his childhood just patiently um painstakingly trying to teach my mother and her friends and my mother-in-law um how to use their iPhone and just show them again and again and they can't remember how to turn it off and on and how to do you know different things with it basic function yeah basic functions just the basic things so he wrote um the he wrote a book called nanch and um and it's about um it's the top 10 ironic that we're talking about that today um uh essential essential um functions of your iPhone so it's just all laid out in like really simple language with pictures and arrows and things like that and um so we'll see what happens he's it goes up on Amazon in another um hopefully a week maybe two they take a while and um yeah so he's excited about it and for iPhone 17 how precious is that like and not just precious commendable and and whatnot you talk about this ambition of you going to work for the CBS Morning News three in the morning and then doing a full shift at at Late Show um you know is did he get his ambition from you is that uh I I don't know probably much to his dismay but um I don't know I don't know he's his own person for sure and I know nothing about tech I do know how to use my phone most of the time but um but yeah he's he's um he's a cool kid I'm proud of him that he um did this and and um hopefully he'll get into college that's his that's his focus at the moment is getting into college so um put author on the application form will definitely raise some eyebrows I think that is uh I hope so that's amazing is he um do we have a website for it yet is that for okay nanch yeah nanch well wouldn't it be cool if I mean that is such a cute amazing human interest where hey for any of the human interest producers that that watch the show and there are actually a couple former ones anyway and there are there are a few what an amazing human interest story um you know maybe we need to message Briant Teta or something like that it's it's the coolest thing in the world that'd be awesome anything um if they've listened to this podcast that long nothing um you know if they if they found my stories that interesting um yeah I mean really appreciate you having me on because I as I mentioned to you when you first reached out to me um I just feel like I mean I was just the tiniest tiniest part of this massive amazing accomplishment and people were there for decades and um it's just amazing so I hope uh hope it was interesting to somebody are you kidding me okay now okay so we are getting to the end here I gotta ask this did the nervousness go away oh yeah yeah you're great to talk to so it was fun and also it's rare I think my family is so sick of hearing these stories that it's rare that I get to like tell the stories to an enthusiastic audience so thanks standing invite anytime you want and anyone that you remember anyone that you want to relive standing invite you can come here anytime to talk about this um you know it's funny we've had some of the interns on over the summer we had five or six intern shows and and and they have the same thing to say that that you had to say being there you know six about six years the same thing that some of the folks who were there for 32 years had to say you talk about the seminal point in your life uh you put it perfectly um so many people whether it was just a brush or it was an entire career look at their time at at at at at that place whether it was in 30 Rock or at uh at the Ed Sullivan Theater as a seminal point in their life you did a great job talking about this you are absolutely you and anybody else who worked for that production are absolutely uh there is no unworthiness when it comes to this show and people who were connected the Letterman podcast is a celebration of this stuff Amy you are amazing I just want to say thank you so much for taking time out of your day to be on here thank you for having me it was absolutely my pleasure such fun oh good I'm gonna shoot a really quick outro and then I'll come right back and we'll say our goodbye privately if that's okay with you y thanks oh amazing um okay so yeah this is why we do the show I just uh abs absolutely adored this episode I think you all probably did as well Amy is charming and joyful and just so grateful I love that so much and if and when we get Jerry Foley on this thing I feel a little bit more like we're prepped for it as well um so cool to put the pieces of this amazing puzzle together uh celebrating the greatest body of broadcasting work in history uh the Letterman podcast um brought to you by the hello Deli go to hellodd deli.com if you still the still the only place that you can get official Late Show with David Letterman merchandise uh mugs and hats and caps and whatnot packed by rubert himself not from the deli anymore but from another location go to hellodd deli.com and get your pieces of Letterman merchandise while you still can this has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisum coincidentally I am Mike Chisum thank you and good night overcoat and Underpants