My Minivan: 10 Things that Happen When You Drive Presidential Candidates

With five crazy presidential hopefuls in the backseat of a minivan, there are bound to be crazy things that happen.  Here's 10 things that happen when you drive around Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders the summer before the big election.

1. Jimmy Fallon laughs a lot.

Because let's be real...isn't hanging out in a minivan with three crazy presidential candidates a comedian's dream????

2. Justin Timberlake sings along with the radio.

I mean, it's literally Justin Timberlake.

3. The paper heads that are on the seats fall down, particularly Donald Trump's.

It's like these people have big heads or something.

4. Donald Trump gets frustrated.

Which isn't surprising in any situation. It's just worse because he's crammed in the backseat between two of his Democrat rivals.

5. Bernie Sanders falls asleep.

Leave him alone. He needs a nap. I'd be sleeping too if I was sitting near Trump and Hillary for a car trip.

6. Hillary Clinton throws some shade.

She's the queen of this even when she's not surrounded by her competition.

7. Jimmy Fallon tries to interview people.

Why not get some fresh content for the show?

8. Donald Trump tries to steal Bernie Sanders' food. 

...and it usually doesn't go well.

9. Justin and Jimmy have a dance party.

Frequently.

10. Donald Trump tries to selfie.

I guess we'll never know how those turned out for him.

Overall, each trip is an adventure. I go from annoyed to laughing hysterically in a number of minutes, but it is clear that these moments are going to be ones that stick with us for a long while.

[As always, if you'd like to help be a part of the #ErinDrivesAMinivanToTheTonightShow journey, feel free to use that hashtag, share my original Facebook post, retweet my original tweet, follow @presidentialpassengers on instagram, share this blog, or just keep following my adventures with the squad this summer!  More to come...]

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!

My Late Night(s) with The Tonight Show

I fully blame Jimmy Fallon for my late nights of homework senior year.  It's all his fault.  Because I became an avid fan.  Let me explain.

Tonight Show obsession continued through graduation thank you notes...

I was a part of a rigorous program called the International Baccalaureate Program and it caused me many late nights of homework.  I stayed up doing biology labs, math problems, papers for any and every class--you name it.  For me to work efficiently, I found it helpful to have background noise, so I would turn on the local news at 10 and then the local news on NBC at 11.  I had no problem focusing on my homework with the Kentucky news playing.  However, after the 11 o'clock news was The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.  At first, his show too was not an issue, but then I began to listen to it, and watch it, and get distracted.  The good news was, I watched the monologue and opening segment and was able to regain focus on my homework during the interviews.  Then homework nights got later...all the way to Late Night with Seth Meyers.  I soon was hooked on his monologue and opening segment as well.

Some might say that this was bad...my lack of focus that resulted from the shows.  But I don't think so.  Sure, I might have ended up going to bed 30 minutes later and maybe my homework wasn't as perfect as it could have been.  But let me tell you, I always had a chance to smile and laugh before going to sleep.  Before my late night TV breaks, I got frustrated and stressed to the point of tears.  Always.  And while I still had those moments (and probably just as frequently), I was able to smile.  I was able to take a break from the tedious assignments and just laugh.  How great is that?!

While their jobs may seem like "fun" jobs or maybe even "easy" jobs, I truly believe that people like Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers who host these late night talk shows have some of the toughest jobs around.  Think about it.  Every night, you have to come out with a smile and make other people smile.  Even if you've had an awful day.  You have to immediately be likable.  But I think that what makes them so great at what they do is why the do it.  I see this a lot with Jimmy Fallon.  He is always having fun--smiling and laughing and having fun with his guests, with Higgins, with the material, with everything.  But even more than having fun...he does what he does for a specific reason, and it's super cool.  After coming back from a finger injury, he said, "This is the meaning of my life.  I belong on TV, and I should  be talking to people who are in an ICU, or wherever you are...if anyone is suffering at all, this is my job.  I'm here to make you laugh, and I wanna make you have a good time."  Here's the full clip (watch around 4:20):

I so admire people, like Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers (and all the many other late night hosts), who do what they do to serve people.  And it's not just their jobs.  It's your job.  It's my job.  Do what you love to do to serve people.  I do theatre, specifically children's theatre, to serve people.  Maybe you are an engineer or a teacher or or a musician or a doctor or an athlete.  Whatever you are, serve others doing what you do...and have freaking fun while you're doing it!!!!

So maybe my "Late Night"(s) and "Tonights" with Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon weren't just a distraction.  Perhaps they were to show me the beauty of serving people and the beauty of taking a moment to just laugh.  So, Jimmy Fallon, I take it back.  I don't blame you for those late nights of homework.  I THANK YOU for them.

P.S. Please watch these gifs while listening to music...you'll thank me.