Dan Flaherty filmed the World Series, The Olympics and lots and lots of Dave and his antics

hi I'm Steve wer you have no idea who I am but watch the mik Chism show because no one knows who he is either welcome once again to the Letterman podcast my name is Mike Chisum we've finally done it we've got our first camera person on the Letterman podcast and I am really excited about it Dan flare uh has has a veteran veteran um camera person for CBS uh and then it goes further back with other with other companies graduated in 1982 uh been a cameraman for CBS for a long time and everything from the news to the World Series to the Olympics all sorts of stuff in many respects culminating on his one of his very favorite assignments ever uh Late Show with David Letterman um from just a couple of years in uh all the way to the very very very end and and it's cool because uh much of the camera work that he did wasn't just the homebased stuff it was also the stuff on 53rd Street and whatnot we get into that lot of memories lot of stories uh that Dan tells lot of fun a little bit of showand tell as well so if you're if you're listening uh to this episode you might want to come back and watch one of the video uh versions of it as well for for some of the showand tell stuff that we do um videos on the Spotify it's on the YouTube that kind of a thing uh the Letterman podcast is one sponsor one sponsor only and that is hellodd deli.com uh go to hello.com if you want merchandise let Le with David Letterman merchandise mugs and shirts and hats and all that kind of stuff uh the hellodd deli.com Rupert G the legendary rert G uh will be happy to send you your Late Show with David Letterman uh merchandise and uh buy them for gifts for people they're a throwback now it's a throwback there's so much throwback stuff out there right now um vintage even uh a very cool gift for yourself or your loved one um this episode is a lot of fun for me I enjoyed it a lot Dan has just an absolute um lovely uh body of experience that goes really through everything from the serious of the serus uh when it comes to the news all the way to the zany antics of Late Show with David Letterman uh the late the Letterman podcast is proud to present this episode with cameraman Dan flarity Dan flarity I am so excited that you are here today I have just at this this very moment uh decided the first question I'm going to ask any cameraman that comes on the Letterman podcast uh this is the question I'm going to ask if I remember have you ever sustained an injury being hit by a blue card or a pencil no thank goodness do you have some of Dave's regular pencils there uh I I've got I've got one of the uh I've got one of these ones they've got Erasers on both ends I've got one of the Dual Purpose uh eraser pencils and I assume these were created uh to avoid camera inj uh cameramen and other people injuries I assume that's why they were created but I we haven't talked about the pencils yet actually do you know the origin yeah sure I actually grabbed one one day at the end of the show I went up and stole one to come home to give to my daughter and she thought it was hysterical there's a how do you write with it well you can't really write with it it's got eraser I don't even know how they got it made up but uh I'm sure there's a pencil company would do it as a special order absolutely H this is one of the things that actually um and I love we're going to talk about we're going to do some showand tail so for those who are actually uh listening to this episode of the Letterman podcast this is one you might want to jump back on to the YouTube um and or the uh the spotify's got the video you may want to come back and watch this one because Dan's got a whole bunch of very he's got the backdrop of a bunch of the of his favorite jackets behind him he's got he's got the Foo Fighters t-shirt we're going to get into all of that but yeah we're we're showing the uh The Late Show customized uh letter pencil with two erasers uh a lot of folks have asked me uh you know are they available can I get more can I go to hellodd deli.com and get them no you can get the mugs you can get the shirts from hellodd deli.com but you can't get that pencil uh one day I'm GNA find out the origin yeah Dan's got the mug right there um this is really cool so Dan before we get to you know some of the anecdotes and stories and and and and just shooting the bowl a little bit about Late Show let's talk about you um you've been a cameraman for CBS for a long time how did you get into the business uh where did you start and and and I mean you've gotten to the highest level of broadcasting being a camera person in broadcasting in in in so many respects where did it start and uh and where are you at now basically it started with my father my father and my grandfather my grandfather worked for WD TV in Kansas City my father uh first went into the army in the 1950s and it wasn't it was he didn't get send to Korea but he got switched to New York City from Kansas City to what was called the Army pictorial Center and which is now the cof aoria studios in in Queens and at the Army pictorial Center they made army training films it was he said it was a gigantic cavernous room and they would would make army train army training films there and when his twoe stint in the Army was up you know because he already knew electronics and TV and stuff he applied for a job at uh both end CBS and NBC and at the time he first got hired at NBC and lasted for like two years and that NBC had a big layoff yeah and then he was lucky enough I guess he said he just got married and had the first child and then he got laid off this was like 1959 or so and he got hired broadcast so he worked for the RCA building in 1959 wow mother because my mother was a secretary at NBC and the two of them met at NBC they get married she quits her job to just be a stay-at-home mom and he gets laid off and then within he knew people at CBS in the engineering department he gets hired there so he's an engineer and he is at one point the chief engineer later on a vice president of engineering technology and whatever so of course you know he said when I was going away to college he said you know we've got five kids going going away to private school we could use some help paying for tuition I hope you get a job but then you got to use some of your paycheck to help kick in some tuition money I said okay sounds fair so I got he got me a job at WPIX he actually wasn't allowed to get me a job at CBS at the time there was some family nepotism thing which turns out is not true because a lot of people get hired because they knew somebody so I'm working at dpix during the summer three or four months and uh which pix was great because I at a small station you do everything you do video tape one day you do camera one day you roll the teleprompter one day and then you can do m master control and I was like 21 years old working working the master control switcher and and running you know the station the best part of it was WPIX at the time had the contract with the New York Yankees they covered all Yankee home games oh my God and a lot of the people that worked there the old-timers they didn't want to go up to Yankee Stadium it was a bother they just wanted to come into the station so I said I'll do Yankee Stadium next thing you know I'm up there and I'm covering every Yankee home game you know for during the summer and then when I graduated in 82 Hicks of course hired they had made overtures the year summer before you know when you graduate come on and we'll hire you so they immediately hired me 82 I did every Yankee home game for about four years so somewhere around it was around the end of 85 I started looking for for other work I I kind of gotten bored there i' done everything I could do but i' done like new zng on the streets with a handheld camera yeah and that that was sort of exciting work but a little dangerous too at the same time you know even before the era of fake news you could still be a Target being the guy holding a camera on the street but uh okay so so I gotta stop I gotta stop here and ask you about this because uh now now tell me that this isn't an ironic story you're not a Mets fan right you're a Yankees fan like this is one of those things where you know somebody gets to get thrown into something they love I sort of believe it or not I root for both teams I have no prejudice against either team the only time you have to pick sides it would be if they faced each other in the World Series like they did in I think 2000 and I went with the Yankees and so I would lean towards the Yankees but uh people come up with me with tickets to a Mets game it's like yeah I'll go I'll go watch the meds and my wife is a Phillies fan I married a Philadelphia woman so whenever the Phillies come in she wants to go to sha Stadium or Shay Stadium they tore sha Stadium down about a decade ago and made City field but it's still called sha Stadium I we go see a Mets Philly game or whatever and you know uh so I I go to games all the time but or often enough I love talking to um I love talking to the the The Tech Guys um and it's funny because you know we're we're going to get to Letterman of course and and uh I found that a lot of the early adopters of this show here in particular uh are folks who have been in the television business for a long time and folks who have been in the tech side of the television business for a long time and and this um it's so Charming like I've done I've done some local uh I guess that you know uh for for lack of a better term cable access stuff over the years and and and it's really cool um seeing some of the camera operators or some of the switchers or people who are in the in the in the in the control room and how there is this element of being a Jack or a Jane of all trades uh at that level and and then people just seem to sort of elevate where you might get to a control room where there are more uh monitors and more things to switch to and a few more little uh doodads and and and things that you can or or more cameras in the studio itself but really at the end of the day if you've been in one it kind of translates to almost any other doesn't it you learn you learn to pick things up quickly you learn to not get let the stress get to you yeah you know in the beginning it' be like I'm holding a camera and there could be several million people watching uh don't get nervous and make a mistake because if you get really nervous then you got to make mistakes yes you know switching on there I mean anything that anything like that can cause stress and and you have to learn to like let get past worrying about what who's watching or whatever and just just shoot and uh yeah become the Jack of all trade and and and I was I I like I like doing the switcher too like Tim Kennedy was the switcher and when I was at WP pix I did the switching too but we had two rows of buttons and then two rows a little buttons and there were maybe 35 buttons on this board switch the most complicated thing we did was a chroma key where the weatherman would stand in front of a green screen and do that and I come to CBS and Tim is like hey but you know instead of being a camera you could also be a TD and I look at this thing and it had had to be 150 buttons and about eight or nine rows and all these special effect Banks and I was so I actually tried to like learn and I was so overwhelmed by the thing I said I think I'll stick to pointing a camera now because that the network the networks kind of wanted people to specialize in one thing it was more compartmentalized you're a TD you work the switcher you're a cameraman you do the camera you work on videotape and and that was it as opposed to pix where you did a little of everything it's so yeah and I this is something I wanted to get into here actually today a little bit because um I think that the a average uh uh viewer or person who who who wants to know a little bit more about the behind the scenes doesn't understand also like the unions as well like I mean you know you're at these local community stations um and and and I mean you know at any level whatever level that is you could become a Jack or a Jane of all trades but um and and learn these different things but once you get up to the higher level that you're talking about here we're talking different unions as well right like you're you're you're you're allowed to do certain things you're not allowed to do certain things when did uh Union life and and and and if you could maybe shed some light a little bit on how that works when did that enter your career well as soon as I started a WP I had to join a union uh most of Television is heavily unionized technicians or ibw stage hands of the IIA II even the hair makeup wardrobe people so many people directors are part of the Director's Guild producers can be the producers Guild everything is is very uh gu I mean I had you know I had a couple of friends who I went to college with they looked at me like you're in a union like what's wrong with you I mean they s of look down their noses at you you know they're the ones all went to management job someplace and they're probably making a lot more than me but you know it's funny ironic when I get together with my friends for Sunday afternoon barbecue they're working these high-end jobs one guy's in banking one guy's in brokerage one guy owns like $800,000 house in in Manhasset and and we're and and we get together and they travel around the world doing stuff and one guy was in Indonesia one guy was in south of sou Paulo Brazil I'm saying tell me about your travels tell me about your travels tell me about this and they're like my B my job is boring tell me about TV who have you seen lately you know what shows have you done lately and like well I worked with this actor I work with that actor that's all they they think it's the coolest thing in the world that you get to work with actors and you get to get to do all this stuff and I think you know what you're right it is kind of cool I I you know the grass always seems greener on the other side some of these other other jobs but Union unions do a good thing in terms of protecting workers they sometimes then can hold back from moving on to the next thing you know I know a lot of cameramen including myself that would like to somehow direct yes but like you know it's it's like a totally different it's a different universe and they said you know years ago when you got hired you should have come in as a production assistant and then become an associate director and then a director that was the vertical path to being a director uh Jerry Foley managed to do uh he jumped Sideways from being a technical director and it for him it was a good move it was a great move and it was it was a move that we all expected because as good as how gurny was I only worked with him a handful of times when he came and uh because I didn't get on the show first I was out in the field doing sports when when the show came so I filled in one or two days and a couple times how would make a mistake he would call the wrong camera and Jerry would take the correct camera and you hear how say oh thanks Jerry you know ready to take take three oh oh thanks Jerry like Jerry would save him by doing the right thing so Jerry was practically directing as he was tedding yeah and so when how retired it's like okay it's it's definitely Jerry gonna move over to be the director and we were all happy for him this is uh something I I I I would love to have Jerry on the show and and and and talk about that um he and I have had a few a handful of conversations and and uh he's not um he's not coming on here anytime soon but it's not that it's going to be a no it's just a not yet kind of a thing this is something that's fascinating to me uh because you know one of the things about Dave um and and and his history that is fascinating I think is his link to avantgard brand new kids uh you know inmates running the Asylum connected to shz history and and and uh sh's royalty in many respects and meshing them together from the beginning of his career moving forward Hal gurny of course being the latter uh you know worked for par um you know innovated in many ways that somebody in the control room could be a character on the show the control room itself could be a character on the show and um and when he retired I mean the big shift that happened uh at CBS in around the 96 97 uh time period including of course Hal moving over um I I I want to talk to Jerry and people around in there about that particular time because it isn't just a matter of I'm sitting beside the guy and uh the guy retires and so I'm just going to move over there's more if you for lack of a better term politics when it comes to that and you know we had just had Amy Sharon Humes on and and you know she was Jerry's assistant uh she she talked about that how she wanted to be a stage manager and the Hoops that she had to jump through to be able she volunteered at 3: in the morning at CBS more the morning news so she could actually get the credentials the union credentials uh to to to become a stage manager at the same time um there there there's a lot of waters that you have to negotiate if you want to even make lateral moves in the television business aren't there there really are and I found personally if you're willing to accept you know like had to accept the three in the morning job if you won't accept the undesirable jobs there's maybe more opportunities it was like me at pix during the master control they said if you willing to work 11: p.m.

to 7 amm the overnight shift which nobody wanted you could like do the top job of running the station and yeah and there I am at the age 21 pushing the buttons like oh my God if I make a mistake the station could be off the air but nobody nobody's watching because it's 3: in the morning anyway so yeah the the some of those things can be done if you're willing to take a chance or if you get lucky or if you happen you know get in the right with the right people you can uh you know make that make that jump over uh with with know with my case I'm not quite sure how I did it because I had a father there when I when I said okay it's time to move from pix to CBS I put in the job application I had an interview I had a feeling like okay it's probably a foregone conclusion that I'm gonna get the job anyway but I I sometimes joke with people like well you know you didn't think I got this job because I ain't talented you I I knew somebody and I first I felt guilty and I get to CBS and I find all these young cameramen whose fathers were older cameramen or older uh technicians and like okay there's so many nepotism cases here it's it's okay you know I'm just one of many people and we don't judge each other that way you know what's funny about that man like like the word nepotism and I and I don't get me wrong I understand that that in many environments uh oh yeah there's the there's the president's kid who's been given this high level position that kind of thing I understand the the concept but I also understand the concept of of friends of mine who are a third generation firefighter or a third generation uh police officer or or or military for that matter as we record this it's just past uh you know November 11th Les me forget we thank all those who serve um I think you know locally uh I can I can list three people off the top of my head um who are broadcasters of some sort whether it's in front of the camera or the microphone or behind it on the tech side of things where they can uh talk about their father or their grandfather or their mother or their grandmother who who who have a a root in it television I find or broadcasting I find is a family business the same way that for many folks firefighting is and whatnot and I think it is because of the the crazy hours the unique part of the job um you know when when and it is a cool thing like like when you see a parent in a broadcast studio of some sort growing up that makes an incredible impression I think and and uh I I assume you know I don't want to put words in your mouth but your grandfather your father I assume you kind of looked up to them and what they did and said oh this is pretty darn cool yes I did you know uh we saw that we saw the downsides of it being a kid where my father was away a lot he traveled on so and then and then he you know he he was actually more of an executive so he worked more daytime I had to travel a lot and so I get in the field and my first job in t in CBS I said I wanted to go out and do Sports so I was a sports guy Y and so now now I'm flying out of town every Friday doing a football game or a basketball game or whatever and then flying home on Monday a lot of times I say this is okay now I understand you the job you can't do it Monday to Friday 9 to five it's the job demands you work weekends and you fly to whereever this game is and and you do it there so that's that's what you have to do and at the time uh when I first got hired I Was A Bachelor and that was great I was traveling on road I I didn't have anyone to answer to or any pets to take care of I could just get up and go when I wanted to and you get and you get to see the country I get to see just about every major city that had a sporting event and uh and where some guys would rush home Monday morning or try to get that last flight out Sunday night I might stay a whole extra day in the city and just bum around and drive around and say hey this is great I can now see a city and then fly home and do it all in the company time and uh I enjoyed the the years I traveled and did Sports uh I even got to travel some International CBS had the Olympics in 92 yep in France 94 in Lily Hammer Norway and 98 Nano and 9294 I did figure skating I was in with a great director named Bob Fishman he did figure skating and which was a great sport to cover fact that's one of my claims to fame is 1994 when Nancy carrian and Tanya Harding were skating yep my camera was on the red line right at the boards so and and they had two cameras one on that side and one on this side was like the reverse angle so on most of those shots that you see on the old newsreel footage you see Nancy carrian spinning right behind her there's a camera lens and you could see the top of the head you know over the viewfinder and that's that's me and I'm I'm in all these famous shots and they said over and over and over and over and over again as they analyze things right popular yeah we knew it was going to be big and afterwards it was like 80 million people or something that was probably the most watched that anything ever did that was one night I actually felt slightly nervous doing camera like it don't want to don't want to screw up tonight you know the the adrenaline's flowing like it's got to be perfect the shots have to be right don't go out of focus it's and and you know we nailed it we had great coverage the the lace broke and it was all drama and uh we we thought oh this is fantastic so that was that was one of my uh my big moments was being there and which is what I love about being a cameraman is you get to be in the room when famous things happen y you know you can be at presidential inaugurations you can be at presidential debates you can be right there where where something big is happening and you're not really a power player participating in but you're there and you get to be in the room and be witness to some bits of History happening and you know for some sports history and I covered Masters golf tournaments and you know a lot of some super bowls and some big events and after a while it's after a while you start to take it for granted like oh it's just another game you know but but it's a Super Bowl yeah but it's just another game but it's a Super Bowl so I loved it though I loved the field and uh and then around 93 uh Dave came and I was still doing was covering baseball at the time we had a contract from 90 to 93 for covering baseball and that's 93 the Philadelphia Phillies were in it and in the playoffs trucker years they all look likey big truckers yes wild thing they they their relief pitch at the time with the long hair and he had to he had to look like the wild thing and my camera is the center field camera the center field camera would shoot the pitch and over the picture shoulder and my wife future wife was sitting there in the bleachers you know behind me with a big sign said scalp the Braves or whatever oh yeah very Politically Incorrect days and i' look back and and her mother was sitting next to her saying that camera keeps turning and looking at you and after the game I was like saying uh you know she looked at me I said are you coming back tomorrow because I know that the seats were sold as as blocks like you right you buy the same seat for three nights in a row or whatever and she said yeah so the next night she was back and this time with her father and and I kept looking over at her between Innings and at the end of the game I rushed over and I got a phone number and and we talked for a minute and then I had to fly out to Atlanta for more playoffs and then back to Philadelphia and I took her out to dinner one and one night and then the Phillies made the World Series and it was against Toronto so I was back and forth from Philly to Toronto that's where we started a long distance well not really long distance but about 2hour Drive relationship from New York Philadelphia and eventually I got married and around the time I got married I I realized a lot of the Roes uh not to knock any of them but several of them were divorced and there was a fair amount of drinking going on the road and and it's like it's it's a hard life to be married and have a family and say I got to be away every weekend when my kids are having soccer games and whatever else I didn't want that so I went to CVS and said okay I'd like to get off the road now they had no problem with that because it's actually cheaper now much less expensive them to hire a local freelancer they save airfare hotel rental car everything else just hire a guy locally so they said okay no problem come on back we've got soap offers going on I did at some As the World Turns and Letterman Unfortunately they had already gotten their crew yeah you know 93 when they first came they got they got crew but then things were changing well the cameraman W off and I okay which surprised us I thought this must be the Nirvana job but he got a job you know some doing something else or hours that he wanted more and and you know next thing you know they said well instead of replacing the one cameraman with one guy we'd like to have a rotation going so we'll get four and you do Monday you do Tuesday you do Wednesday you do Thursday that way there's four guys that are involved with the show often enough that they know the flow of the show they get the direct you know they know what the director how he's how he speaks and how he talks and what he means when he says this and they're in the flow of it so it's you know got John and and another John and Fred and me and we were all like the guys who rotated through so officially I was there one day a week but in in practice I was there two and even three days because anytime they did something out on 53rs they would add at least one or two additional cameramen say on over and and I'd be doing something else sometimes I was doing the soap opera and you know three o'clock in the afternoon it's like can you come over I'm like the soap is going to be done about 4: I'll rush over and then and then do it or a couple times I I practically left in the middle I shouldn't have even left but I left one one show it's like oh you guys are fine you'll be you'll be fine without me you're almost finished I'm leaving I'm running over there and you know I get there some around about 5 o'clock or 5:15 they'd have a camera meeting we'd all go into the control room Jerry fly say okay this is going to happen this is going to happen this is going to happen and then we go and I run out and get my camera and then you know whatever would happen and and that the beauty of the show what I loved is that on any given day you had no idea what was going to happen yes it could be a a slow day where he just interviews guests or it could be you walk you come in and you find police barricades on 50 Third Street and there's a motorcycle jump set up I'm looking wow what's going on there's going to be a motorcycle jump a guy named Indian Larry was the big motorcycle uh jumper that came in several times and we got to meet him and uh you know whatever the the Ringling Brothers Circus showed up and they had a big he Dave loved the circus and they had a big setup they had a huge cage in the shape of a sphere and they had motorcycle guys going around and and they said this is the first time we you you know we set a Guinness World Record by having more motorcyclists in a cage than ever before and there's guys doing circles around the cage crisscrossing each other and no one hit each other I thought oh and then other stunts with knives spinning around and I'm thinking wow I hope those things aren't sharp because I'm standing just a few feet away from them the camera but uh every once in a while you feel like yeah I'm I'm the only guy close to something crazy going on but but pretty sure I won't get injured so I'll just I'll just you know go with it I uh there are so many um you know I I I loved what you just did and the that you just you set the perfect stage uh before we get to straight up the Letterman stuff and some of the stories and anecdotes and whatnot by the way shout out to Bill Palumbo I just love Bill Palumbo he's one of the guys that helped build a lot of the things that you're talking about there and and Tom balovich and and all those guys uh Lin and and that crew that built all the things on 53rd Street um and like you said it was just it was just a unique time in television they don't do it as much on coar it's a different show uh that was such a special thing that you got to be a part of and the fact that you weren't a regular studio guy uh or in studio uh cameraman um you know other than the one day a week the fact that you got to see some of these things it almost gave you the advantage of seeing some of these amazing uh you know once in a-lifetime events that would happen outside um I just a couple technical questions you're the center field camera uh for the Philly game does that mean you're GNA be the center field camera guy for the Toronto game was it always the same position or did you not know where you were gonna be each each game no the sports people B you in the same position okay so it' be like the high left High home or high first base Third Base same field that way you could you you know specialize in do just get good at your One camera and do I I've enjoyed moving around you know I occasionally that this guy would be out or that guy would be out and then you know you you move around you do a different camera which I I always enjoyed moving around and doing different things I guess that's why I I didn't you know a lot of times shows would have an opening like do you want to do the soap opera five days a week do you want to do this show five days a week and I always say no say I want to be the guy who bounces around and fills in put me a week on Morning News to fill in for that guy and a week over here and a couple days over there and a day here and a day there and one point it would be like I was doing CBS Sunday morning with Charles Ood which was a fantastic show to work on so Sunday I was doing that Monday I did the soap opera Tuesday I was doing Letterman Wednesday I was doing something else and so every day of the week was a different show and I was bouncing around from show to show and it gave my life a laot variety and I I really enjoyed the variety oh that's very cool okay so um and it seems like all of the all of the things that you were doing the varied jobs uh varied locations that kind of thing was kind of preparing you for what the circus itself that late show with David Letterman was and that you could be this multi-talented uh player um I want to go back before we talk about uh you guys getting Letterman because I want to set the table a little bit you're working for CVS at this point a journeyman just simply for the for the experiences that you've had even though you're relatively young still you graduated in 82 uh Letterman of course came over in 93 as you alluded to um was the majority of what you were doing like the soap operas for example once you got off the road were you in the broadcast Center uh a great majority of the time is that where the soap offers were shot obviously that's where the news was um is that where you did most of your most of your work at that point yes most of my work was at West 57th Street in 10th Avenue the soap operas we had uh the studios are six large Studios upstairs and a couple small news Studios downstairs so Dan Rather was Dan stairs on the first floor the 60-minute studios on the first floor upstairs six large Studios two of them were a soap Opera and then you know haraldo we had haraldo Rivera doing his show in one studio and talk about circus that was a crazy circus did you ever shoot any of those I shot a few episodes of Heraldo yeah that was that was great and and Heraldo again the guests I mean the subject material was a bit crazy maybe sleazy was was a better word for some of the guests they got in there but uh haraldo was very good he would come in he he was one of those guys didn't really need to rehearse the prompter he would just look at it boom boom boom and read and and knock it knock it right through and he was fast enough he could react to you know he knew how to interview people and he he could keep the show from getting too out of control yeah you know you want a certain amount of Controlled Chaos and her Alo was Controlled Chaos I guess that's kind of how the Late Show was it's uh it's it's that you want to be a little chaotic so it's fun but you don't want it to get totally out of control um there's a guy absolutely that that's a guy who um you know when you think about it uh a multi-talented individual because he could go from you know a a Ser regarded as a serious broadcaster all the way to if you there's a prelude for for for Jerry Springer in the antics of that show I think haraldo would probably be the uh the the Father the grandfather of that um and then become serious again and and and there's a there's a guy who's talented uh in in in in many many respects and probably is overlooked because of some of the things you're talking about but really um yeah that is a that's a very interesting uh part of the resume that would prepare you for Letterman as well I'm glad we went down that path a little bit now you're working for CBS a journeyman at that point and then suddenly the the the The Late Shift uh starts to go into motion over at NBC uh you're a union guy you hang out with all the sorts of people that that that that Moonlight for different places and whatnot I want to ask you about the scuttlebutt of knowing that Dave is not going to stay with NBC uh not sure where he's going to go that kind of a thing I assume you all were talking about that and when the announcement that he was coming over to CBS uh happened there must have been a tremendous amount of excitement at that point with you and your counterparts there was a huge thrill in the air yeah and we we kind of know I mean we kind of knew ahead of time because and as you know from from how seen The Late Shift NBC had that choice they had two guys and only one job yep so whichever one doesn't get the job Dave or Jay are gonna want probably want to leave yep it's like fine we're gonna get one of them we gonna find we had Pat s Jack on the air as our show and I think you never work that show did you what you never worked that show did you that was uh West Coast yeah it was West CO okay that's West Coast and uh there was a funny line in the movie The Late Shift and whoever was playing Howard Stringer was said something like oh I'd push sjck off a cliff if I could get Dave and I oh God poor Pat you know he's he's he did okay Pat Pat did okay okay for himself he's his life was good so but they wanted to get one of one of those you know Dave or DAV or Jay or whoever they could get and then when when it was announced Dave's coming over I'm like oh you know this is this is great and then they announced they were buying re repurchasing the edivan theater and I thought this is this is great it's a Historic Landmark Theater that we did The Ed Sullivan Show when I first got hired it was great because back in the 80s the original generation of guys who started in the 1950s were still there they were getting older they were retiring one by one but I I worked with a cameraman one or two guys that were there when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan oh my God and and so I got to talk to them I knew the makeup artist who got called over to makeup The Beatles and like oh my God you know we're there at the history and one guy who loved Jackie Gleason he did all the Jackie Gleason shows there at the theater and he said yeah we would rehearse they they rehearsed the whole show then the crew would take lunch and we' go out to the bar Y and Jackie would go out and then buy us all a couple beers and then we all go I think every one of them had a little buzz on when they did when they did the gleon show I thought this is great hearing the the stories of the Alzheimer's were were just so much fun and and so I was happy there purchasing the ad solvent theater they had to renovate it there was like that three or four months of of you know crazy renovation and did you go see it did you see it in the condition it was before like and then and then see what they turned it into like I didn't get to see it I didn't get to to go there and I was still traveling and doing sports right right right probably wasn't I I I probably could have walked in there but I didn't want to go someplace where I wasn't really authorized to go but I heard I mean there was all kinds of stories like they they were the painters are down painting but meanwhile the guys are are drilling through holes in the concrete so now concrete dust is coming down getting on the paint so the guys having to wipe the wipe the gust off and then repaint and everyone's getting in each other's way but it all came together and it was just about three or four months that all came together and the theater's ready to go and uh you know I I it was it was amazing the way that they they put all this you know they put like a ceiling of baffling down they said it was more for sound baffling than anything else and I mean and when Co bear renov it and brought his vision to light they literally just got rid of all that they opened it light up and they this beautiful ceiling with stained glass windows and I thought this is fantastic and apparently the audio didn't really suffer from not having all the sound baffling sounds fine so I thought this is I love I love the way Co bear redid the theater it's just so it's beautiful the other way was more like well Dave did it more like a practical it was like more like a practical stage for a a TV show as opposed to theater so I I get there and I'm and working and in the beginning it was it tough because everyone you know the show had already been there for a year and a half or so and everyone knew the pl their place and everyone was into the flow of things and I'm like the new guy going oh my God I'm trying to get quickly get get into the flow of this thing and I think Carly Simon was there oh and and instead of and and it was a little bit different most of the time the the artist Carly would stand center stage yep and they would shoot her with the pedestal cameras this time they want her to stand right in front of Paul schaer's uh music setup on the edge of the stage and they would shoot it with a handheld camera in the aisle so now I'm on the handheld camera in the aisle and I'm about six seven8 feet in front of Carly Simon holding it and my camera was like the main shot of Carly so they would cut around to the other the shots of Paul and the musicians and then cut back to me and I'm like holding as still as I possibly can I think wow this is you know and how gurny must have a lot of faith in the new guy if you're gonna say okay you're brand new I've never worked with you you're gonna go you're gonna have the main shot now for for music and uh you know it does when when when the director shows faith in you it it it suddenly can resonate like oh oh this is good this is good now if he has faith in me I've got faith in myself so for anybody who's got insecurities you can say yeah I'm liking this isn't that funny though how um you are the guy who you know Nancy carrian in the Olympics and for those who are you I'm 47 at the time of this uh at time of this recording that there was no bigger story in in in in sports slash and entertainment at that point there and you're the guy that shoots uh you know that huge huge moment the world series I mean you think about that you're the guy that shoots that um all of these things uh you know bits and pieces that build into this massive um you know body of experience that you have to go to this show and and see Carly Simon yeah of course of course you can do that from a technical standpoint but at the same time you're you're a journeyman that has been at the biggest level um and still you can be present in that moment and realize oh Hal gurnie is you know counting on me for that and you can make it terribly exciting as opposed to just another day at the office I find that very very cool that even at that point with all that experience under your belt that moment is one that comes to you and and you still had excitement for it and it seems like you haven't lost it you really still enjoy what you do hey Dan oh I do I really do I enjoy doing different things and I don't mind getting thrown into biz new situations and and it it's always a lot of fun you know being being where something big is happening even if it's a minor show even if it's like oh I filled in last week on Drew Barrymore it's just a morning talk show but you know it's new it's different it's something else and uh you know filling in on coar when when one of the regular guys is out that's always a lot of fun and uh you know the I love the variety of of the TV business it's it's I don't go out and do Sports anymore although a few times they called me and said you want to go out to MetLife Stadium and do a Jets game and I said sure because a few of the directors out there still know me from 30 years ago so I go out and I said oh I almost got bit by the bug I said maybe I'll come back out on this on the sport on the road and do sports but then by the end of the day I was like no do I really want to go out at my age and Trav do lifting heavy cameras up onto the truck and do you know so much of uh Sports work you're only cameraman for like three hours all the rest of it you're loading a truck full of equipment you're running cables into a building you're you're you're doing all the grunt work and then you're a cameraman for three hours and then you're breaking everything back down again and packing it all back up in the truck and the truck has to leave to go to the next uh event so it's it's physically a lot of heavy physical labor I mean when I did it back then I was in much better shape just from all the you even have to go to the gym you're lifting stuff you're moving heavy stuff I've got a little little soft with age and uh I I wouldn't want to go back out there again full-time but I didn't mind filling in for a week here and a week there out out at MetLife Stadium for a game it was a lot of fun shout out to Randy grai talking about the NFL that's what she's be she's she's deep into the uh football season right now um okay so so you go I want to go back to um that early time when you started with uh with late show the Carly Simon moment are there any other moments that kind of uh resonate up to the surface I know we've had a a week or so to kind of think about uh doing this this this show here let's talk early on some of the moments that you remember uh starting for this thing and and and continuing to revitalize your passion for this because of the randomness what were some of the moments early on that you uh experienced that that come to mind early on see know I'm trying to remember things I I remember when we get bigname acts like bigname bands that's that's always a lot of fun yep and you know at one point um not not early on so much I mean when they first told me you could work here as a regular basis one day a week and you'll be at first I was the Wednesday guy now was the Tuesday guy or whatever camera every week yeah they were basically three pedestal cameras y that shot Dave and the desk and the guest and then two handhelds and one handheld played the right side of the stage left side of the stage over by Paul Schaefer you ever played the right side of the stage and you could there were the producer was always at a Podium on on the side of stage it was Allan calter yep and producer at a little podium in the blue doors and every once in a while they'd have something come out the blue doors or if you had to shoot Allan cter that would be my camera and then you know later on I became on I moved over to the other side of the stage we had another guy left and and there was one guy cameraman named Joe and Joe was like he came had come over from NBC and I admired the guy very much because he could sort of read Dave's mind he sort of knew ahead of time where Dave was about to go and and anticipate and and be there two seconds before everyone else had to react and be there I thought oh this guy this guy is just too good and you know then and then you know so the Personnel changed every once in a while and now then I'm on the other side of the stage covering Paul schaer so uh you know there was a lot of things you'd have to quickly react to because Dave didn't he like to go off script a lot and if we had rehearsed something else could happen and I I really love the things I love the most is when they went on 53rd Street and did something weird uh John mackenro was on as a guest one day well they using white tape they actually made an entire tennis court out there in 53rd Street and put a net out there and everything so it's like Dave said you know John let's go play some tennis and they go out there and they're hitting the tennis ball back and forth to each other and like okay they they're playing tennis on 53rd Street and uh we had other things we had baseball players come on it's like hey let's do batting practice on 50th and third throwing baseballs and guys are hitting and up thinking oh they're going to smash a window someplace and I think I think we did break one or two or I think you know a windshield's going to get smashed in our car someplace and they didn't care they they've almost had that um sort of like you know how a teenage boy would be like yeah I'm G to try something crazy and I don't care if it something gets broken he almost mischievousness M mischievousness of like an adolescent boy he he he kept that mischievousness all through his life and and he enjoyed doing little tricks I remember one thing early on behind Dave behind the desk was a little uh trolley and I didn't realize Dave had a switch that the trolley could actually slide back and for so I'm I'm there with my camera and I'm I'm back for some reason I had to be backstage and I'm shooting the trolley and uh and there's like a bunch of little like little people whatever and and and and I'm shooting the trolley I'm I'm just seeing what I can do with this camera it almost looks like I'm you know got the lens right close and suddenly the trolley moves and runs the guy over and I jumped like oh my God just ran over a little a little little you know statue of a guy and what the hell's going on what did I do and I turn around at the desk and there's Dave looking at me and he's got his hand on I'm like oh you did that okay and uh you know David he just saw opportunity to do do something funny messed with a guy and he did and uh you know they said oh Dave but Dave must like you he messed with you a little bit well and and and the thing that I love about that too um I love talking to Dave's like old friends from back in the day we've actually got one uh from The Comedy Store days that's that's going to be coming on um fairly soon here I'm very excited about it uh it's a little bit of a tease for the audience um but uh you know Dave talking about his days at The Comedy Store is one of the only bits of nostalgia that I think he he he really has there's another one though and that I think is the fact that he spent so much time as a tech guy as he made his way up you know you talk about the idea of of of of running the studio late at night and you can be the station manager essentially with all the the the Jack of all trades Dave did that he he did that back in the day um you know be the guy that turns on the national anthem at the end of the day and and and and and horing around with the guys in the studio and that translated in my opinion that translated his entire career right up to the very very end of Late Show uh where where Dave would love to horse around with the with with the crew and and because he was there he was one of them I don't know if he was necessarily a cameraman but you know he's talked about being an audio engineer and some of these other different things Booth announcer uh you know and and and and the the fact that he was so comfortable with you know the tech side and the tech crew and all of that and he liked to horse around with with the crew um is that something that was would you would you agree with that is that a spirit that was part of the show uh throughout year run there that that was a spirit at least in the the beginning because Dave would come down for rehearsals right and he would do and then he would do stuff he him and Bill shef and them would start throwing a football back and forth each other and and if the football hit a light it'd be like electric you know we need to refocus where the light they just hit it and and sometimes I think he he aimed for the light on purpose to whack it like ah electric I got your light and uh then he would sit down and play the drums it would he just sit down for about two or three minutes to play the drums yep and not to knock him but he was a terrible drummer he just didn't no you know you're not the first to say it it's okay we're we're all right you're not the first to say it on this show and one time it was great one time Phil Collins is the guest that night on the show he's a talk and I think sing guest and Dave usually didn't like to meet the guests ahead of time so everything would be fresh when he comes on but he's sitting there at the drum set and Phil Collins walks in right behind him says you never get any better that was that was the inter it was like oh hi Phil yeah you never get any better you know all the all the practice you've had and that was it so uh that is a very cool moment you got to see Zing Dave on his drumming skills oh that is a very cool moment that you got to see that um so so on your day that you were uh that you were posted inside the theater each week um everybody who comes on the show seems to universally praise uh if they got a chance to be a part of the music rehearsal people in the offices who all had feeds in their office uh you know of what was going on on the stage uh would would talk about how they loveed to come down for the music rehearsal obviously that is something that you really enjoyed as well I really enjoyed that and I love to be there and one of the things that impressed me about the show and maybe the music producers had more to do this than Dave is they would spot young Talent upcoming Talent before they were big so you get a band on that you've never heard of before say the song is pretty good has a catchy tune to it and next thing you know six months a year later that band is picking up the Grammy award for best new act and it's like oh we had them on a while back and and you know and sometimes I would even forget six months later and you know someone remind me they were on the show we did it I'm thinking oh yeah you're right I I think I shot them that night yeah I mean what was the band I think there's a band called they were called fun and the and the song was called We Are Young and yep absolutely I heard it they we rehearsed it like two or three times and I and I thought that night I heard the song I said this song is going to win the Grammy in six months from now for best new song I I knew it I was about to post something on my social media page like watch tonight because this I saw something special and sure enough uh you know several months later that song won for best song I I I called it and Dave and dav's music producers had found this band before anyone had ever even heard of them yeah I uh I I've been people have actually reached out to me and said hey Mike do you um you have a you have a real affinity for Sheila Rogers and I do she is absolutely I cannot wait uh if if if the cards uh ever reveal themselves that I can have a conversation with Sheila Rogers I want to have uh making their network television debut section of that conversation with her because the resume of that show of folks who have made their network television debut still like when you look at what Dave is doing now with my next guest one of his guests on my next guest handful of shows a year but you look at like lizo made her network television debut on that stage um and and and and there are so many examples of that I love the fact that you were present enough to think that Anthem we are young and it was an Anthem at that point like it just I mean how many graduating classes use that song as their as their anthem for when they graduated um very cool that you got to see moments like that the music rehearsal being a yeah that is that is that is excellent um I love that you can contrast in studio versus outside on 53rd Street your preference was even though you got to see these amazing moments and you got to be part of the show internally um you you you preferred being outside yeah I mean the outside stuff was fun but Jerry Foley was also smart enough to realize if he called in two extra cameras to to be outside well during the music act you could unplug from your outside cable and plug into an inside cable and then you could be an extra camera inside so he would use us he's like okay you're going to be outside for the motorcycle jump but then come on in and go go park yourself up by the drum kit and get a shot of a drummer and and okay so you might as well use your resources if you got an extra camera use it and and we would you know I'd be up there shooting the drummer or shooting you know whatever find a new camera angle that works depending on who was there or where you could hide there was spots behind home base y literally behind the two guest chairs and I would be there on sort of on my hands and knees uh with the camera low and so I wouldn't be seen when Dave did the introduction and I could shoot uh you know an artist so hiding behind the guest chairs during music was a big thing and uh you know I'd be close enough to Dave I think da once or twice I felt a nudge on my butt with with a foot think I wonder if that's Dave messing with me but I'm I'm so busy looking at the shot to look at it but they also did they were inventive in terms of they did things like River Dance Before River Dance was big and famous they were on the show and and you know there they are there's a whole bunch of them they bar barely fit on the stage and uh oh this is this is unique it's not just rock and roll bands coming through it's acts musical acts my own personal favorite uh I'm a Broadway geek and I love going to Broadway shows and they would have a lot of Broadway performances you know Nathan was in there a couple times doing uh a funny thing happened on the way out of the Forum and a few other and and when once was out they the the actors once were were there and I always I was impressed because the Broadway actors uh were much were really friendly B you know basically were much more approachable they would they would set up in the audience because there were so many of them and they'd come right up to say hi and I'd be talking to them and it's like what oh I saw your player I got tickets to go see that next week they would they would just be very very friendly and very talkative the the other actors that we guys guested they weren't unfriendly but the show Almost Del really kept them isolated it' be like they'd arrived they the green room and they come on stage and and the the crew had very little contact with with the guests and only if the guests you know wanted to to to say something to meet you but the Broadway people were like really like right there and and they were just a Fun Bunch of people I mean Sutton Foster was there you know she's like the Broadway Queen now and she was there singing song from uh anything goes and she was just the friendliest girl walked right up high Su and she was performing right across the street at we're at the edsan theater and across the street from us is the Broadway Theater Y and the stage stage right across the street from our stage door so so i' see her almost every day for like two years she would come in she was doing Shrek that was it they were in Shrek and uh and and it's like oh this is great there something there's there's some other big and and they were totally you know approachable people you could you know I said hi to her once or twice walking by she didn't know who I was but I'm like oh hi you know I said and uh you know I learn I learned from that that you know like I said the the the the the actors that were on as guests you didn't have a lot of contact with them and there sort of a a rule that I learned as a as a cameraman y you're there in the room and but you you can't really just walk up to a music act and say hi and and introduce yourself you kind of have to stay back and be a little more like if they come up to you and say hi and a few of them would you know shake your hand whatever then it's fine but the idea is not to not to bother them professionally invisible professionally invisible and you know said it's okay to talk to them but don't bother them and some have take with take away with me in my life every once a while will be on an airplane and be a celebrity and it' be like it's it's okay to say hi but don't start making demands or them like can I have an autograph can I do a selfie with you the minute you start asking them for stuff then you're bothering them for you can I just interrupt one second for you uh in that moment I assume there would be a handful of times in your life where you could actually say oh hey I shot you at dot dot dot i i something like that I assume is where you would have a bit of an advantage you got a conversation starter with some of these people I would think I do I mean just about a year ago we're on a plane and Michael J fox was on it and they they even loaded him ahead of time so he's in first so now we're all walking back to coach we all have to walk by him and I I had shot him on the Morning News he was a guest on our morning news a couple times and I think he was a guest on Letterman I don't quite remember him being there those days but I I didn't really you know in that moment of walking past him I didn't really have that time to start a conversation I just said hi Michael and kept on going and yeah you know M was like oh my God it's Michael J fox can we talk to him no con keep going keep going don't don't bother the man but you know but sometimes the the actors some of the actors would uh interact would want to interact with the crew well a couple times I was actually very impressed with Tom Cruz Tom Cruz won show several times and one time time you know most actors would come on they do the interview with Dave and by the time the interview was over they'd be out the door and in their limo before we even got off the air well unb notes to me Tom hung around the Green Room afterwards and then after the show he came out onto stage and said if anyone wants to take their picture of me it's okay and and he was hanging around talking to the crew and bunch of guys took took pictures with him and uh he he hung around for at least 15 20 minutes and and talking to the guy I thought oh my God this guy's not a primadana we know whether you like him or not he's not a the primadana he said he was like he grew up in Syracuse Blue Collar kid not rich not Hollywood elitist but now you know now he is but he doesn't act like an elitist and so I I was impressed with him that way uh another band I was really impressed with was You2 You2 came on one time when you they come out for a week they're G to be the music every day for five days for the entire week well Monday comes there and and you know first the good musicians always show up on time the the primadana come late so you two walks in they're they're 10 15 minutes early Bano walks right onto the stage goes around starts shaking hands for the crew wow you know high and we're El you know so now we're in a little circle and Bono's talking about his his subject conversation was what that if it hadn't been for the Potato Famine The Beatles would have been an Irish band not an English band because they were all transplanted Irishmen that you know the Irish moved over to the West Coast of England to Liverpool and they had Irish names McCartney lenon Harrison I like those are Irish names he's like he's like yeah they would have been an Irish band we we would be following in their footsteps not and Bono's talking to us they're like wow this is totally cool that's how opens that's how he opens the five days you know that it's going to be a good five days if that's how he comes out with uh it's gonna be loose what a tone he's setting a beautiful tone there around the building and they did a couple skits and we did a they did a couple skits down the control room and I was gonna ask did you shoot them shoveling the snow did you shoot that I didn't I don't remember the shoveling the snow part I remember uh they they had a a ceremony I think where the mayor came out and they renamed 53rd Street as You2 way yep and that was the cameraman that followed them they walked out the side door and I followed them down the street and then I was shooting them as they you know unveiled the the the the street sign You2 way and I thought oh this is cool and it stayed the sign stayed there for the longest time afterwards and eventually they they got rid of it uh somebody took the sign down but you know YouTube was just really good that that's that's what I notic the really good acts they the're totally professional acts they they they show up on time they rehearse as many times as they need to be rehearsed y you know some of the padas would barely show up or barely show up for the rehearsal they do one take and they literally drop the mic on the stage and walk up like okay you've got your One rehearsal that's it okay you know this person's a real primadana but you know Bruce Springstein was there one time also and you know again consumate professional he played as it was just Bruce doing acoustic or whatever and and you know showed up on time and then Jerry said okay we've you know we've got uh we got two or three takes we're we're fine but there's 15 more minutes left in the rehearsal time if you want to you know do anything and then Bruce would just start just started playing songs he started playing a couple of his acoustic songs and then they said okay we you know stage we have to load the house now and he he'd go off and yeah he he was he just was serenading the crew with a few acoustic songs like he he was enjoying it he was enjoying the moment and we were too and you know so so again it's what I've learned what I tell people who say if you ever run into a celebrity you can say hi but don't bother them yeah and and that was what I that was also something I learn about working with Dave you know early on people were like saying watch don't talk to Dave don't make eye contact with Dave don't and and I found that was not true it's like you I passed him in the hallway several times and and I wouldn't not say it would be be very uncomfortable say nothing I'd be like Hi boss or hi Dave and and a few times I had a little interchange inter uh interchange interchange yeah then you know one time I bump into them it's after the show it's a Thursday and the next week is a dark week and I'm I'm like hi Dave how you doing all right you know I say what you know I enjoy your dark week are you going to the Caribbean yeah have a house and sa parts or whatever and he's like no no not caribia I think I'm doing Montana this time like okay you know go houses he could go to Montana apparently he's Ted Turner's neighbor but neighbor meaning they each have like you know hundreds of thousand yeah he's he's a thousand acres over that way land he's like five miles down the road but he's my next neighbor you know so uh you know that was that was it with Dave you could you could say hi you didn't have to run and hide or or or you know Shield your eyes from him or something he's not Medusa he's he's he's Dave but I I think when you're famous like that when you get Uber famous and a lot of Hollywood actors will tell you this that you suddenly lose privacy or that people they bother you and then they want something from you everyone wants an autograph they want a selfie they want you to please donate to my charity it's like okay you know don't don't bother them or make demands of them but you can say hi and just uh you know say hi and passing and keep going I uh um I appreciate that perspective very very much because heard it a lot I think that is one of the reasons why why you know um the people who worked with him at the comedy store and and some of these other folks that have been there before the Ascension uh to becoming you know the professional that is David Letterman the the the star that is David Letterman the franchise whatever the brand whatever you want to call it um are so important to him those relationships because those are people who can still treat him like like a like a guy who's just a regular guy which is what Dave I think um the charm that we all love about him and the reason that so many people uh magnetized to him and and and uh his performances or his his broadcasts were because he is just a just a guy he isn't he doesn't come across uh as a high and mighty Showbiz guy even though you know we as an audience ascended him to that level um I you I think you've done a really good job talking about that before we finish music um you know again music is is such a I love music so so much and the moments on that show that were out of the ordinary where you might have been utilized compared to a more traditional show a colar a Kimmel a Fallon whatever uh Kimmel Kimmel actually does quite a bit he does quite a bit of stuff live outside of of of his theater but um but I think about the big moments on the Marquee for example you know uh this isn't a musical moment but Dave and reg just smoking cigars on the Marquee Paul McCartney performing on the Marquee TV on the radio performing on the uh on the fire escape Eminem and Jay-Z on the roof or other things that Happ happened on the roof um any moments like that that you got to be a part of that come to mind yes when Dave and uh Dave and Regis were on the Marquee smoking cigars I love that moment that's one of my favorite if I could have inserted myself into a moment that's a tremendous one I just love that they were they were they were uh recreating that moment from Boston Legal because at the end of ab episode Bost legal William Shatner and and uh the other guy they're always smoking a cigar talking about something and that day it was actually a stressful day for me because we have a jib and that's it's a camera at the end of a a long arm yep and some people called a crane or a boom but it's a jib and I operate that too so that's that's one of my extra skills operating the jib well to get it has extensions it has three foot sections so normally it's 12 feet long or so but it can go up to 30 feet long it's God super giant extension and they said you know I came in at like 10 o'clock in the morning and they said by three or four this afternoon we have to have a 30 foot jib and so uh Steve Kaufman who is who you I think you know and Steve Kaufman and I were friends and Steve and I would we we commuted out the same train station together so I'd see him on the train all the time so we go in there we have to now we're like you know with with with the wrenches and I'm undoing the the arms and adding the extension pieces and I knew how to operate the JY but I only Built it a few times so now we're having to quickly remember remember how do we how do we put this on eventually we got all together 30 foot jib and then the only way to shoot it is to be out in the middle of Broadway yeah because we got to be up the the arm goes up and Dave and and and reges are on the Maris and now at some point you know we're we've got this little wooden ramp we're trying to not make not let the thing tip over because that's catastrophic if that happens so we wheel it out and we got like three people holding the the base of the tripod and we Wheeling it out and you know I get out there and now the chief and a few other security guyses are literally blocking the left two the right two lanes of Broadway just yep ushering the cars to go around us and you know I'm there and the only and now to get the arm high I'm the controls are down on the ground so I'm there on my knees with the the thing the weights are practically scraping against the ground and they they do the whole thing it takes about 10 minutes or so and then yeah that's one of the things I like about Dave there's no let's do five six 10 takes of this it would be like one take we nailed it let's go and that that's second take but usually not you just do it once and and that's what we got and uh and then we put then I had to unbuild the thing and put it all away but I got to shoot that moment of of Dave and re just unfortunately when Paul McCartney was up there I was I was working that day but I was in the broadcast Center I was doing the soap opera and for some reason and there were too many cameramen already leaving the soap and they said no you can't you can't we can't give you up there's some negotiation between the the tech people there and and tech people over at at Late Show so I didn't get to do it I was so ready to just you know walk out you were turned on a monitor we could call up the feeds from across town that's Paul it's Paul playing it's great U so I didn't get to do that day but I've got to do a bunch of others and uh were you ever on the roof I got to go on the roof a whole bunch of times I got to go on the uh on on the top of the Marquee a few times and then up on the the 14th floor we did some stuff up there they did a few bands up there and they did other tiets and life for me I'm trying to remember there there'll be sometimes we go up there to get Beauty shots or we go up to the seventh floor I'd be going out the window I remember one time it was a question of let's see if a guy in in a a donkey costume can get into flash dancers and Flash dancers were right across the street on Broadway and and they didn't want the camera to be there because if the camera's right there on the sidewalk it's going to be obvious what the joke is so we're on the seventh floor I think it was like Tim Kennedy's office or one of the next door offices shooting it was Jerry Foley's office that's what it was shooting out shooting down and sure enough there's a guy wearing this goofy like donkey costume or bear costume and he'd walk up you know Dave said let's see if he can do it and we you know there I am shooting and this guy got in the bouncer there's always a bouncer at the door and he just opened the door let the guy with the donkey costume walk in like like it's I think it's strange thinking this this is this normal for Flash dancers where people in Donkey costumes go walking into it but I I I think after a while they realized they had done the same thing a couple times so they realize oh this is one of Dave's people coming in uh absolutely and and and The Business business owners having uh around the uh around the area uh having a um you know an awareness uh that hey they could be featured in something really really fun here uh could happen at any time and and and I love that the The Flash dancers my favorite flash danc dancers moment ever has to do with um a guest that I would who's in my top five I would love to have on here especially on the celebrity side he might actually be number one now that I think about it I want to have Brian Williams on here in such a bad way I love Brian Williams as a broadcaster uh I love him as an Entertainer and especially I love him as a late show guest and one of my favorite moments was Brian finishes his segment with Dave it was great as always they all were and uh they were it was one of these shots you were talking about and they were going to record Brian because they that they had made a big to-do about the fact that he was going to go back to 30 Rock to do the NBC Evening News and he was leaving and walking down the street and and and they had a shot of Brian leaving walking down the street supposedly to go back to 30 Rock and uh there he is no he's turning making a left hand turn walking right into flash dancers and that one of my favorite I love that moment so so much uh I don't know if you shot that or not but but thanks for bringing up I remember that moment I think that was that was obviously set up like perfect just perfect um I love he was that relaxed kind of guy Brian W was the kind of guy that could do that he would say yeah this is a joke let's do this and I had worked with Brian he was at CBS when I first came in the 80s he was doing our local news before he went over to NBC yeah and uh know and he was just that kind of guy that he he would love you know he could he could goof around with a guy he was a totally normal sort of guy and I love Brian Wes that way and absolutely and he was a perfect he was a natural to be on the evening news I thought we we should have held on to him and he could have been you know the the our evening news replacement but you know that's the way things go and it's funny you know you look at broon rather um and and you know Jennings and Donaldson and all that great but but I look at broon rather those were probably I'm a Canadian but we had all the American Feeds up here of course growing up those two guys rather and bro broka were kind of my guys uh when broa left and Williams kind of came up and and I realize like and I was of course the Letterman connection was a huge huge thing I would love when he would sit in the chair and Dave would try and make him uncomfortable because I think and and I mean you can speak to this too because you you have so much uh news on your resume as well I mean we haven't even gotten into I need to have you back Daniel because because um some of the things that you we haven't talked about on your resume uh I think are are are very much worth talking about news being one of them Brian is one of those guys who Dave could just make him uncomfortable trying to get him to form an opinion about something because he wanted to be so straight down the middle and they would I would love when they would play with that idea where he would get Dave would try and say something so obvious when it came to Common Sense to get Brian to weigh in on it and Brian wouldn't do it because he didn't want to show an opinion on things and I think that that is something that our generation used to really appreciate about our newscasters and that's something that's kind of gone now most News broadcasters show personal opinion on things yes and I think you're right there's there is a lot more bias y in the news these days and of course you know left wi rightwing I don't want to get into all that but no you're right I mean the old school was was you had to try to be non-biased it would you know the Walter kronite era and back in those days there was actually an FCC mandate that you had to present both sides of the story and and it would the rule was just present the facts just hear the facts this happened this happened don't give an opinion as to this was a good thing that was a bad thing it was his fault now just he the the facts and that's the way Walter kronite did it back in the day and you're right we have lost that and there is a reason why but uh you know it's it's a lot to go into as far as news news history now yeah but you were there um as as you know these uh broadcast institutions uh then suddenly became you know one of many wings of these different corporations that have come in and bought broadcasting has certainly changed and and and you've watched this Evolution happen uh fascinating a fascinating take um because you know professionally invisible but yet at the same time you see all of these things that happen around you um I I I appreciate how mindful you are because you it's not that you're unaware of these things that have gone around you on around you the history that you've seen uh the progression I want to get to uh the progression of late show and the the franchise that did not exist Dave came over and as a beautiful gift to the Tiffany Network giving a late night franchise for the very first time uh you know that that could compete with The Tonight Show all of that you saw that transition um when it showed up and then when it moved over to Steven coar I want to talk about that I want to finish with that but uh at the end of the day uh I want to do some showand tell first because that's I'm a collector I love collecting things I've got a whole bunch of Swag here I know you do and I want to talk about some of this stuff so you got one two three four five five jackets behind you um and I mean you've got some of the those famous ones famous one I love that one very end when Dave was says thank you and it is the year the Year 15 so the thank you jacket for all the years of service that you've given us now that you've said that let's stay on that night for a second because that jacket was handed out the day of the last show were you there for the last show I was there for the last show what did you you I was in back of the control room okay for the final final thing um it wasn't the camera that shot Tim Kennedy but it was what like the back of the house camera and earlier on there were different things that we did and for the for the finale actually the finale was the Foo Fighters doing Everlong and I got to be I was sort of the back of the house shooting the band for that and we we had to rehearse several times because the music had to match up with the video and because there's one moment where he the song goes and she said pause and just then Farah fos what and and the timing had to be perfect on that and they nailed it Ian on the rehearsal they nailed it but the final there was a there was some there was some jiggling that had to be done is is is oh it might have been slightly off by about a second or so so they did a little bit of editing on and then this talk about food figh thank you very much they have a t-shirt that's my most item right there yep on Dave and on the back it actually gives all the dates that they were on I did not realize that they were on so many times yep but uh Dave even talked about the funniest story Dave I think it was at the final show Dave talked about after his heart his heart surgery uh Sheila Rogers said you know we could have anyone you want for your first show back and he said I want the FR Fighters and then she said well they're in South America doing a concert tour so we can't get them and then the next day he said we got the food Fighters they cancelled a couple of shows in South America or postponed them to come back just to do Dave and just to fly back I think they realized they they owed some of their success to to the publicity Dave gave them because he just loved them so much and I and that was another fun moment that at the rap party at it was at MoMA so we're there at the rap party Dave grown and the other guys in the band are there and I'm talking Dave Gro was me Steve Kaufman we're all talking to him and he's just a totally totally down toe normal guy he really was and I unfortunately don't so I mean normally I I would say Hey you know I like you let's exchange phone numbers and keep in touch I didn't do that but Dave Gro and Steve Kaufman apparently they exchanged phone numbers and then the F the food Fighters Played Madison Square Garden you know a year or two later and and Steve cman said yeah I went to the show and I went backstage afterwards Dave Gro had invited had given me a backstage pass I went backstage and saw them like oh my God like you you got to do this and I should have I should have made more of an effort to to friend it up to the band or something that I wouldn't know what to say anyway but uh it's that it's that careful line though and and and some people negotiate that line differently um but I I appreciate where you're coming from I appreciate the fact that we can talk about Steve Kaufman here uh a little bit as as as we talk about more of your swag and and the different memories because um you know Rick sheckman there he is right there he's in the studio for every show that we do um you know this show doesn't exist without czechy um when Steve passed you know Rick had some significant things to say about him uh you talk about somebody who was the fabric of that show in so many ways again professionally invisible uh you worked with Steve for years uh very very sad when he when he passed yeah it really it was sort of a shock because it he wasn't sick or anything it was a sudden sudden you know her heart just stopped eating in the middle of the night and that was it we were away I was in uh Florida with the family on vacation so I missed the funeral but the as soon as I got back I drove up to his house and I knew his sister because uh and we sat Shiva for the night but because when he went to the he never he never got married but he went to the Emmy Awards and that was another whole story every time we got nominated for for Creative Arts Emmys the show would pay for a plane ticket and hotel so we go out to West Coast Steve brought his sister out so I got to know his sister and and so it was very sad after he passed away we we did the Shiva and uh and you know it Steve was just a really happy guy you know he was he was always had a smile on his face and he was a hardworking sort of guy and and anytime I needed something it's like Steve where do we where do we get this how do we do that and anything technical he knew where it all was in the theaters like Steve how do I get a shot from over here he like oh there's there's a cable drop over here I'll plug you in and you know Steve just knew where all the all the bits and pieces were and he was one of the guys that kept the uh kept the machine running I was gonna say you and he kind of complimented each other like you were more the the 53rd Street guy the handheld guy whatever Steve was more of a a Homebase guy is that fair safe to say yeah he was a home based guy he was his job Des scripture is called utility and the utility does they helped run cables they helped move monitors the anything needs to be done uh you know if we're doing three cameras on 53r street he would bring the cables out plug them into the box where they they and run the cables out and help you you know and then if you're running down the street he's there with a cable in his hand running behind you so you had enough you know slack to get to where you need to go I don't think I ever had a case in all those years where I couldn't get there because the cable you know yanked back because Steve was on it he's he he was there I mean there there were times I remember one case I wasn't sure I'd be able to make it because that Al was one of the other handheld guys they said you're going to go into the alleyway and look for rats because there were jokes about rats in the alley so this other guy out he's on that side of the stage he he goes into the alley look for rats and then uh Dave tells Allan calter and unrehearsed he's like Allan why don't you go out there and see if Alan needs any help and Al is like four rungs up on ladder and Allan C is about to go and he's like Jerry Foley says take four Danny go get him and I'm like we have to now run across the stage around the into an Alleyway I don't know if I've got enough cable but Steve was right behind me next thing you know there was never there was no issue with with not having cable I had a cable and you know next thing you know Alan calter who had a good sense of what's funny uh climbs halfway up the ladder in his face by Al's butt and and it was just that image of his face looking at the gu's rear end as oh I think he he doesn't need any help Dave it's okay you know now Allan was one of those guys who just had that perfect Dave like dead pan humor so if you could read your lines with a perfectly monotone straight face that's why Pat and Kenny did O for transcripts so well they were just dead pant Allan cter could do his thing totally dead pan and Allan Allan had some of my funniest moments and you know once or twice I actually started to laugh and I'm I'm shooting him with the hand camera on my shoulder and whatever it is is so funny I'm like and the camera starting to shake it like SM take a breath will you and and I I you know stop I had to stop laughing oh no it's too funny I I if you know the joke ahead of time you've seen it in rehearsal now you won't be laughing at so much but if it's something spontaneous it could it could just hit you at at the wrong moment as being funny guy but as a cameraman you have to try to stay detached from the humor like Abol Just DE shooting it don't laugh at it don't get too crazy with it um Dan you can tell how much of a professional you are in in in this uh being in front of the camera right now because you have managed to take uh you know we're going from from from from the swag segment but we actually have a story that includes a beautiful little memorium of two of of of The Late Show family of Allen and Steve uh that's a delightful delightful story um what else you got there oh credentials look at the credentials show credentials a whole bunch of them and I don't even know why they give out so many here was a Christmas gift from I think this is Paul gave this late show pair of binoculars oh that is awesome we talk about Christmas gifts on this show that's great and I I heard it had like a little thing you could actually take pictures but you know a little spy glass and oculars and of course this is one of my favorites a nice lever backpack and it oh that is so cool oh from 10 from the 10th year they show the 10th year and there there was like a t-shirt every year that had y the I'm wearing one of them a year on it oh you've got one yes L 21 I've got at least three or four backpack packs a computer bag laptop computer bag yeah you know jackets jackets of the yingang sweatshirts this thing is a one of my favorite Jerry Foley I think gave this out a sweater vest or a fleece vest with the Late Show on it so this is one I get a lot of use out of this thing so uh do you wear the jackets ever yes I do uh I can't remember there there's one it's one that's hanging up over there one one of the later ones one my favorite ones it's got different uh different colors on says Late Show on it some of them just say like this one worldwi worldwide PE you know one one of them just said pants yeah I've got that one I wear that that's probably my most worn one I wear that one outside all the time I love that one 99 that's the one that got me the most questions like what's what's P I like okay well that have to explains worldwide pants David Letterman's company and blah blah blah you know so that that I one I somehow I didn't wear that one as often because I got tired of answering the dumb question what is why why you advertising your pants got a few others here the red one and I understand Dave himself he started months ahead of time looking at cataloges and he would pick out he he was very Hands-On in terms of the the color and design of the jacket that year and a couple of them had the nice leather sleeves I really love the Letterman Styles jacket the sleeves they were all very nice I almost you know I almost didn't want to wear wear them because it was like oh they're so nice I don't want to wear them out but then it would be almost disrespectful not to wear them so as soon as they gave them out it was just before Christmas we would all wear them for the next couple weeks so Dave would see us you know wearing the jackets it it was so cool uh from from from being an audience member's perspective um you know because they would constantly turn the cameras around and and as Tim and I talked about light up the audience and that kind of a thing and you would look and you would see everybody from Inky uh all the way to all the different uh folks cameramen and and and and and and grips and and cable guys like Steve or whatever you'd see how many of them were wearing the jackets sometimes you'd see different shots of of two different crew members wearing two different jackets and and it felt like uh from an audience perspective uh being part of a sort of an exclusive Club seeing those things Dave wears them himself on on on uh the one that comes to mind right away is Belinda Gates's episode of my next guest he's wearing the red one you got you got back or the red and white one you've got back there um in his latest video where they're giving away a piece of the Marquee I don't know if you saw that he and Paul are wearing you know he's wearing one of the his his Late Show ones and it's cool to see that uh we want to do a jacket episode uh but the thing about it is really there's only probably three people uh that that that could definitively do a jacket episode why did you choose these colors why did you choose this particular year I think about Michelle's year um you know the special jacket they did for her with the M on it um under Late Show uh but really it's really only Dave or Lori or Mary uh would be the ones that we could talk to about that because it was right from that office wasn't it it was yeah it was it was I understand Dave himself designed it so it would be only those have you gotten any of those people you got Mary or uh Lori no uh I have a I have a um let's just say a very healthy fear of Mary Barkley I've met her a couple of times uh but I haven't gotten her and uh and and I mean just to do a jacket episode like I mean if we were to get Dave on here I mean obviously it would be you know beyond that but I would have him on here just to do a jacket episode I you know that' be it's fascinating to me um how many different variations there were how they would play on different things some of them were Throwbacks to the old late night days you've got the one behind you there beside thank you and gight that is basically a late show Rec creation of the original Late Night jacket the yellow and blue one on the other side um that's a that's the Red Sox kind of one that one right there yeah and and that one there is kind of the recreation of the original Late Night jacket but it says Late Show on it so um lots of different ones yeah that one there that's two 11 yeah you got the one I never got the first one said Ed Sullivan yeah I've got that one I love that one I didn't get that one because I wasn't on the crew that first year so I didn't get that one I was like so oh I really would like to have that one that was a lot of for some people that was their favorite one that was yeah I love I wear that one I you know it's funny I wear the pants one probably more than any uh thank you and good night I've only worn a few times I've done standup a couple times I've worn it when I've done standup but uh uh the the Ed Sullivan one is the one I actually get the most comments on it's just so sharp and and and uh and and people you know it's a it's it's a a throwback to a foregone era and I get a lot of baby boomers who who look at that and say oh what what is that and and um it's fun to talk about it um I appreciate you taking time please uh I'm gonna say this and preload it and say it with the record line on please come back you and I uh can can continue our any other anecdotes you think of and and we can just do little pickup stories and things we're going to have episodes of the Letterman podcast where we have some folks who remember a story and they just want to tell one story and we'll collect two or three of them for an episode we're going to be doing that please come back down this has been so much fun um I want to talk about the transition uh because you're you were there when you know again this franchise that really for the first time became cbs's franchise I mean it was broadcast on their Airwaves but it was Dave's show uh because he walked into this amazing unprecedented deal where he owned it and then suddenly The Changing of the Guard Dave says I'm retiring from the late from Late Show it's now cbs's franchise they tap Steven cber to come over and and and take the job you were there for the transition and I'm fascinated you and I talked a little bit about uh about this off camera and how there's a professional desire for you to get in there full-time right now which I think is so charming and a testament to that building to to to the show itself um what was the transition like between uh May to August and uh what was your role in that well the transition was I mean we had the final show and and that and we knew that step was bringing his cameraman with them so that that we wouldn't be working it's funny because one of the executives who was there was there like a few weeks ahead of time and I reminded him that Stephen works with prompters that we may have to buy prompters to put on the cameras he's like oh thanks for for telling me that I didn't know that so and and then it's funny that literally the next day after the final show I get an email saying please come clean out your locker and the finality of it all hit me like so I went over and and had a locker took my lock off I had a little name plaque that I you know taped on there glued on so I had to take that off and then cleaned all the stuff out and took it over to the broadcast Center and put in my locker there so I said okay this is now I know it's final and and then I was doing I was in the broadcast Center the day of Steven's Premiere episode episode I was in the broadcast Center and one of the my scheduling supervisors comes running in saying quick we need to go to the late show and I was like you kidding he said no one of Stephen's cameramen got sick I think that the day before the premere show they've been over there rehearsing for two weeks he was eating oysters or something and got a bad oyster and now he's violently ill and he can't do the show now I'm running over and this is this is the thrill where these other guys have been in there for two weeks rehearsing rehearsing I haven't seen the theater yet and I'm going to go on the air and I go run over there and it's like we did a quick rehearsal and and you know and then I'm on the air like okay I think I I think I got this and there were no major mistakes and I was there for the first two nights in a row and then the director said you did a good job but this other guy is coming back you know next week but he but the the uh the one guy was older he he was John John Michael John was his name a cameraman he passed away a few years ago it's too bad you couldn't get him on because he had oldtime stories of like when the Mets first were when the Mets first started in 1962 and they played at the polo grounds in the in Manhattan he was a cameraman there so he was like from the 1950s and 60s and Then followed stepen into the early 2000s and he was and then he was getting old and we knew he was gonna retire at some point and uh you know I so he called in sick a few times I filled in I jumped in and this other guy took anytime somebody took a week off I would be like the the the guy they called and so I would be like the filling guy and then covid hit and the show basically went remote from Stephen's house for for months and months the better part of the year and then you know basically there's there's not as many opportunities to go over there and fill in because the regular guys don't take that much time off or you know or whatever but but so I'm there rarely but it's every once every couple months I'll fill in for a day and I'm amazed at it is the most organized show it's very more organized that than Dave show it's streamlined and predictable right it's it's it's more scripted and predictable but I mean behind the scenes they're very organized like when I never knew walking to the Dave show who was going to be on what was the guest or what was going to happen that day with the coar as soon as they called me up and said are you available can you work tomorrow if somebody is sick within 15 minutes of that an email comes through with PDF file showing here's the rundown for tomorrow the schedule when everyone comes in the full rehearsal schedule and and the crew list and and it's everything is there and they follow their their schedule to the wow you know like wow he's really they follow it to the letter and and it's really well done and it's really uh they stick to the script and you know and you know Stephen's humor is totally different it's political satire and as opposed to Dave's off-the-wall goofy humor but it's still very funny in its own way Y and so it's it's with big moments too big musical moments still like guests were like he uh you know his guest he he he tends to lean more towards politicians he loves the big politicians if he could get like an Obama as a guest or a big name politician I'm sure he'd be he'd be taking them on so I'm not even sure who who all he's had because I don't I do when CBS puts me on the morning news I gotta get up at 3:00 am to go in by by 4:35 in the morning do Morning News the last thing I can do is stay up late and watch late show but yeah well I catch it when I can in DVR when I can and uh you know's he's good he's very good and Stephen is very smart he's a sharp guy he takes care of his crew the same way Dave did they they all really take care of their crew if the crew needs something they make sure it's there and they get it you know stepen who knows someday I may work on on his show full-time you know it's it's one of those one of those dreams I like being it's fun being away from the broadcast Center because that's where all the bosses are it's it's more like okay we're on our own little side bubble over here that uh you know we could do our own thing and and the show gets made and and that's it we had John Pho on recently and uh photographer John Pho and and he that's exactly the same sentiment that he expressed you know he's got his office at the broadcast Center but boy when he got to go to the edell he would do it for fun sometimes he would just go in uh you know to to to to to have a different a change of environment that sort of a thing he would go there when he wasn't necessarily even assigned outside of his shift and just go and and and and hang out there and see what he could would take take pictures of and and uh yeah he he expressed that sentiment as well is that it's it's fun to be uh just hang around in that environment and and and uh it was a it was a different vibe than the broadcast Center so so I appreciate where you're coming from uh so if you have the chance to go over to work uh Late Show you're GNA take it well absolutely anytime they call and I I let them know if somebody's out call me I'll I'll drop whatever I'm doing in in the broadcast Center and tell my boss say get somebody else to replace me over there do on that some talk show or news and I'm running over to coar oh good for you Dan that's that's fantastic I hope that that happens for you I hope a a permanent position comes up and and and you can go there and and um you know have another phase of this unbelievable career that you've had as I close up uh our first conversation here uh with with having you on the Letterman podcast Dan is there anything else that you kind of uh wanteded to talk about today or thought about talking about today a little bit of Po perie at the end um is there anything else that you wanted to say on your first appearance on the Letterman podcast let's see I'm thinking one of the things that you mentioned I think during your Tim Kennedy interview is how how we had to be able to react quickly yes and and one of the things that Dave did every night just before the show Eddie bro would introduce them say you want to meet Dave Dave would come running out and he would maybe feel two or three questions from audience members before we started the opening music and you had to be paying attention to the questions and then Jerry because the the the guests weren't really I mean the people in the audience were miked of course Jerry Foley want to know what what was that that was okay that guy over there asking a question about Dave mom that guy over there asking question about this and and somebody else asked a question about that and then almost every night Dave would come out and he'd start with I'm Dave Letterman this is the late show and you know I just want to visit my mother and be like like oh that they know there there would be a reference to like a call back to that then and you'd have to quickly know that guy asked that question that guy asked that guy asked that question so be like oh he makes a reference to the stupid petrick oh that that was the guy who asked when he gonna have stupid petrick on next so and then Jerry Foy quickly take a shot of that guy in the audience and there' be that extra it was the in joke that only the audience in the theater got but we had to quickly be there and be paying attention to what's going on it was a show that you had to pay attention what was going on and again expect the unexpected because Dave would deliberately he would deliberately change stuff from rehearsal just to see can you can you quickly catch up and follow me and that was the The Thrill and the fun of it being being ready to go and then the handheld cameras had to be the ones to run and chase the guy so uh that was that was a fun it was a fun show in that that respect crazy show oh Dan Dan Dan uh from our original uh the way that you and I started interacting with each other originally um I just loved it so much uh because we became Facebook friends and one of the things I said to you was do you know what's going to happen next uh and it was me of course inviting you onto the onto the show here uh but the thing is I love to not reveal a ton of stuff some some of the folks of the staffers have watched this show from the beginning or or or from a certain point and they know about this you aren't aren't one of those people which I adore but unfortunately we're going to annoy the audience right now because the moment somebody gives me an opportunity to talk about this I talk about it again you have unwittingly done that because uh I'm looking for people who were part of this moment you might have been part of this moment um so this here and actually I've got another copy of it behind me but this here is um that's Dave during the Q&A and that's me that's Dave talking to Paul Schaefer making fun of me and the entire audience laughing at me this is a month before you guys were done it's during the Q&A I was a brat I was asking Dave a bratty question and he uh you know we got about five minutes out of it it was one of those Q&A that actually went over 5:30 uh because at the end I know he went longer and the very first thing that happened when he came out for the monologue we we were talking about my jacket the jacket color uh I had asked him for a for a pants jacket didn't get it I had asked him if Brian Williams or Jay Lena were going to be on the show before the end of the Run uh he brought Nancy out she talked about that uh with with us and then he started making fun of my jacket which was salmon in color and uh we were going back and forth uh he said drop the mic ran off stage came back on stage uh this is April 20th 2015 and then the first thing that comes out of his mouth if you're really good we'll give you a jacket and boom there it is shot of me in the audience yep dream coming true as a letterman fan because you always wanted to be one of those people that was a recipient of the Callback there it is and you just gave me the opportunity to talk about it much to the Chagrin of uh the audience of the Letterman podcast because I talk about it any chance I get who knows you might have been the guy that shot it I don't knowy sh yeah I I don't know but it's the dream come true of any fan um I love your sentiment though that anything could could happen and um and you certainly were the guy that got to receive the ball when you know okay Anything Can Happen we're throwing the ball to uh to Dan and you're the guy that got to receive that ball many times uh what a what a thing you got to be a part of man and what a family you got to be a part of I I loved it I really L I love being part of the family and and being there is often as I could and just being part of something that was crazy it's just a wild it was like a wild right every night and you know the fact that you didn't know what was going to happen it was you didn't know what was coming around the bend so uh it was that was cool and they right I have I have many more stories for you but uh the podcast can't go forever but but I could okay so here's what we're GNA do get a get yourself a little notepad or a note on your phone and anytime you think of one of these little stories anytime they get jogged just do a little Point form you can remind yourself of it once you get three or four of them let's do it again and and I thank you you're our first cameraman on here we want to get them all everybody's got a different perspective obviously um thank you so much for taking time out of your day off today uh you've got early mornings and and I mean I I would love to talk about some of the things you're doing now hopefully the next time that you're on you're a full-time member of of of Late Show again uh but Dan I just want to say thank you so much for taking time out of your day off to be part of the Letterman podcast today I I couldn't appreciate it more all right well you're welcome and it was great to be here awesome I'll do a real quick outro next I'm gonna make a little list of funny stories thank you so much and folks I wantan to I want to get everybody who um who who would like to tell their story on here because again I was saying this to somebody last night uh uh talking about some of the upcoming guests that we have and I was like uh Dan flarity is an a-lister for me you're an a-lister for this show and you are a prime example as to why this is the behind the-scenes stuff that many of us just love to hear and anybody that you could think of that's on the crew in any way I would love to give them the same opportunity so thank you for this I'll shoot a really quick outro and then I'll come back to you we can say our goodbye privately if that's okay okay sure all right all right uh that's that's it right there there's uh Dan flare right there this is why we do the show of course uh the Letterman podcast is a celebration of the greatest body of broadcasting work in history that of David Letterman and Company uh today is a phenomenal example of the company part of that a guy uh Dan flare just worked there for so long and has so many Rich uh amazing experiences that came from this and him being willing to share it that's what this show is all about um that has been another episode of the Letterman podcast with Mike Chisum coincidentally I am Mike Chism thank you and good night overcoat and