Standby Tickets for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

I was in New York City on spring break last week.  That is fun in and of itself, but if you know me then you probably know that I have a serious obsession with The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.  (For good reason, as I explain here.)  So, naturally, I was determined to catch a taping of the show while in the city.  However, I didn't know far enough ahead of time that I would be going on this trip to get tickets online (which you can and it's less of a hassle...check it out here), so if I was going to go, I would need to get tickets standby.

I ended up in the standby line twice during the week, if that tells you anything about how it went the first time.

BUT.  While I didn't get tickets to Fallon the first time, I ended up getting into Seth Meyers, so I'll talk about that too.  Double the fun.

Here's the deal--there is one standby line for both Fallon and Meyers.  The NBC Pages hand out tickets at 9 AM (though the line starts WAY earlier), and it is only at that point that they ask people in line for Seth to come to the front, and they hand out those tickets first, since 95% of the people are only there for Fallon.  Here's a rundown of how my days went.

MONDAY
I was in NYC with a large group, and some of them were going to see Coldplay Monday morning, so me and two friends, left with them at 4 AM so we didn't have to navigate the subway by ourselves in the middle of the night.
4 AM: Left the place we are staying at in Brooklyn.
5:10 AM: Arrived at 30 Rock.  There were about 40 people ahead of us in line.

It was cold, rainy, and we were questioning our life decisions.

9 AM: A page came out and made announcements ("these tickets do not guarantee you entrance" etc etc), then announced that if we were in line for Seth Meyers to step out and come to the front.  Since there were 40 people in front of us, we knew we wouldn't get into Fallon, so decided to do Seth instead.  We were numbers 3, 4, and 5.

5 PM: We went to check in at the NBC Store.  They checked us in and told us to come back in 20 minutes or so to get in line.  When we came back they lined us up in order.  There were two girls whose tickets had had issues who actually ended up at the front of the line, so our numbers ended up being 5, 6, and 7.  They came down and told us that they couldn't see taking more than 15 (the entire ticketed audience had showed up).  Everyone after number 15 was told to leave.  Then they came back and told us that they could take the first 5 (which was me...YAY!  But not my friends...BOO!).  They took us up to the studio (and we got to pass studio 8H where SNL is filmed, which was super cool!).  The six people after me in the standby line ended up being able to come in (so 11 total), and the staff was super accommodating and let my friends sit with me, and the entire experience was totally worth it.  Seth was funny, the staff were fantastic, and the guests were awesome (we even got an extra...Superman came to film his section that was going to air like two weeks later!).

That was a long day.  But it was NOTHING compared to Friday.

My two friends who went to Seth were done with the standby line after that day, but I wasn't ready to give up.  Friday, John Krasinski was going to be on the show, and there were two other girls on the trip who loved him and Jimmy Fallon enough to want to do standby, so the three of us went.  We were determined to get in...determined enough to get there at a ridiculous hour.

FRIDAY
2:30 AM: Leave Brooklyn.
3:30 AM: Arrive at 30 Rock.  We thought we were the only ones crazy enough to get there that early, but a mom and daughter pair were in front of us that had gotten there about 15 minutes before us.

In case you were wondering what the NBC Studios sign looks like at 3:30 AM.

3:30-9 AM:  Try to sleep, make some friends with all the crazy people around you, eat some food, take turns going to the bathroom, talk to NBC employees (ranging from security guards to SNL staff) who will ask who's on the show and if it (the standby line) is really worth it, watch the city wake up, and respond to passerby question, "What are you all in line for?" with the answer, "JIMMY FALLON!"

The view from laying on the sidewalk trying to sleep as NYC and 30 Rock awakens.

9 AM: Get your standby ticket from the page.  We were numbers 3, 4, and 5 again, but this time for Fallon!!!  Good luck?

3:30 PM: (12 hours later) Arrive back at 30 Rock in the NBC Store.  They will check you in and line you up in the order of your tickets from the morning line.  Then a lady will come down and say, "We can't see taking anymore than _____(on this day, it was 60)."  Anyone after number 60 had to leave.  Then the lady came back and said, "We can't see taking anymore than 35."  Anyone after number 35 had to leave.  Then she finally came back and said that they could take the first 20!  WE WERE IN!!!!!  I don't know if they ended up taking anyone after that, but 20 was a pretty large number of standby to get in...especially for a Friday.

5:00 PM: HAVE. THE. TIME. OF. YOUR. LIFE.   The taping is so much fun.  Jimmy is super down-to-earth, the guests are high-energy, and the Roots are awesome!

All this to say, the standby line is a major time commitment, but 110% worth it.  Also, it is good to note that the lines may have been longer since we went on days by the weekend.  I've heard that the middle of the week and/or when the guests aren't as popular are the best times to go.  That being said, they took a lot of people in on standby, so I guess we might have been lucky.  Regardless, even if you have to go at 3 in the morning, it is worth it.  Sleep between the hours of 9 and 3:30 and you'll be fine and have the absolute time of your life!  Best of luck!