I'm attempting a Blog, since it's all the rage. While I'm a late-comer to Blogging, I was one of the first people to LiveJournal, so I'm not that far behind. :)
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Monday, September 29, 2003
My day of Pyramid fun...
I managed to get an audition time for the Donny Osmond hosted "Pyramid" game show during their "Pyramid City Sweep" event at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.
I was told that I had an audition time of 10:00a, and to be there no less than ten minutes early. I woke up a little after 8:00, and got to the mall right at 9:30. I went to the area where the Pyramid stage was set up. On the stage was a nice mock up of the set, including a pyramid of six monitors with trusses and everything, designed to look very much like the set. Also, two contestant desks were on the stage, also in the styling of the show.
I asked at one of the tables, and was instructed where to go for the audition -- an empty store on the first level. There was already a line there of about forty people -- all registered in advance (I believe) waiting to check in. I hopped into line, got checked in, and went into the store. There were around 100 folding chairs set up, each with a clipboard and a "pyramidgameshow.com" pen. :) There was a contestant application/information sheet on everyone's clipboard which we were instructed to fill out. It had typical things on it such as name, address, phone number, hobbies/interests, have you been on any other game/reality shows in the past ten years, if so which?, etc. Attached to that card was a salmon colored sheet with thirty numbered blank lines.
While we were waiting, they had a DVD running of an episode from the first season with a $25,000 win on it.
About ten minutes past 10:00, a man came up to the front of the room and introduced himself as Stephen Brown, executive producer of Pyramid! I was impressed that the E.P. of the show would be at a publicity tour -- I figured that there would be a contestant coordinator of sorts there, but not the big cheese himself. Anyhoo, he introduced himself, and thanked everyone for coming. He asked a few general questions and then explained how the audition process was going to work. He showed a montage video of a lot of winner's circle categories, clues, and answers, with the montage finishing with a $100K win (with less than a second on the clock!). He told us that the first part of the audition process was to play the end game - the winner's circle round. He was going to put in a tape with a list of five items for each blank, and our job was to write in the category for each list. Essentially, "receiving" in the end game, but writing our guess on paper. We were only allowed to write one answer, and were told to write something down for each answer, even if it was only a guess. He said, "so, for example, if the tape says, 'A Shamrock, Grass, A Pine Tree, Certain Paint', you would write, 'things that are green.' Don't just write 'green' because I'll mark you wrong." He told us to write the following in the margin of our sheets:
"Things that are..."
"What a ___ might say"
"Reasons..." (which he told us that the key word to listen to was "because" -- "Because you want to be informed - because you like the comic strips - because you follow the stock market" ("reasons you read the newspaper")
Basically, it was a list of the three most common "styles" of WC categories. ...and we were told to write our answers in those forms, as it is also the form that must be used on the show.
He selected "tape 3" of WC category clues, but the tape wasn't cued up. He had to fast-forward through an entire Pyramid episode, which created a lull in all of the conversation in the room. While he was racking through the tape, I piped up and said, "Thank you for bringing back the score displays on the contestant tables." He looked up at me, smiled with an acknowledgment that I paid attention to the finer details of the show (beyond the "ooh, Donny Osmond" that everyone else was asking questions about), and said, "You're welcome. I resisted those for a long time, but I finally gave in." I figured that I might not have the opportunity ever again to directly talk to the E.P. of the show, and it was an improvement that I was very much in favor of, and I think it was taken well.
He got to the beginning of the "welcome to the audition", a videotaped statement from Donny himself, and he fast-forwarded right through it! He told us that we didn't need to hear it, as it more or less said everything he had already told us. He rolled the tape at the sample clues, which included the "things that are green" that he had already given us. ...and then the test began.
He had warned us that they would be going pretty quickly, and he wasn't lying! He also told us that there would be a very low threshold for who makes it and who gets cut. "Just so you know, I think one or two of you might not make it (he said to the group of 65 of us)." (cue laughter) He told us that he couldn't tell us how many you could get wrong and still move on (I personally think that it was because it's essentially graded on a 'curve' of sorts), but that it was a low number.
The test went through, and it was pretty rapid-fire. I got stuck on two or three of them, but figured out what it was by the fifth clue, which left very little time to write the answer as the next one was already starting. Two of them I wrote down the keyword, and then when I had time with others, went back to write the phrasing around it. For ones with clues that began with "I'm a ...", I learned to immediately begin writing, "What a ___________ might say" instead of waiting until I figured out what the "blank" might be.
I'm not going to discuss the clues or categories in detail. It wouldn't be fair to someone who may audition with that tape in the future on the off chance they read this, and I don't know how necessary it is to get into the specific categories.
I will say that I was only unsure of one, maybe two on the entire test. I actually though that perhaps I aced it, especially after discussing an answer with the people around me after we had turned in our tests to be "graded". The category listed five book titles, only one of which I knew for sure was by a specific author. I guessed at, "(author name) novels", which turned out to be right.
While the tests were being graded, Stephen came back in front of the group, and fielded more questions. A lot of the questions were "What's Donny Osmond really like?" and things of that nature. One person asked about having returning champions, which Stephen indicated would not be happening anytime soon. He explained that the shows are aired in the order they decide, not in the order of taping, and between markets that double-run the show and different celebrities every two to three shows, it just wasn't gonna happen. There were a couple of remarks he made which basically said, "That was the old show, this is the current show, we're doing our thing with the current show and we've made changes that we think are in the best interest of the show, so cope with it and enjoy it." (not a direct quote, just more or less what I got out of a couple of comments) ...which, I think is a fair statement to make, too. Whether it's six clues in twenty seconds or seven in thirty, the game play is essentially the same. They've made some changes, yes, and that's the show that we get. I still enjoy the show, even if I maybe would do some things differently. But I digress...
I asked an intelligent question (I thought). I asked what the atmosphere was like when Dick Clark was a guest on the show. He told me that it was great, that Pyramid really is Dick's show, and that both Dick and Donny are good friends, and that he (Stephen) also has a good relationship with Dick Clark as Stephen was a (the?) producer of Winning Lines! I didn't know that, and thought it was kind of neat. (According to TVTome.com, he was also the co-executive producer of "Legends of the Hidden Temple.")
Finally, the tests were graded and Stephen brought a small stack to the front of the room. He told us that fifteen people were going to be staying, and that if he didn't read our name that he thanked us for taking the time to try out, and to keep watching Pyramid! He read thirteen names (with most of the people applauding after each name read!), then he read my name. I was beginning to get nervous -- I was positive I nailed the test, but kept waiting and waiting... :) The fifteenth name was of a radio personality that I knew because I interned at the radio station she was at years ago...
So, a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and we moved on...
Some people asked to know how they did on the test. He told us that he couldn't tell us, but he did tell us that nobody got a perfect score. As best I could tell, the "worst" anyone in our group did was three wrong, but I'm not certain of that.
He had the fifteen of us gather closer to the front of the room, and then congratulated us on making it that far in the audition process, and explained that we'd be playing the front game with each other in front of him. He took two people at a time and with chairs facing each other, had one person give while the other received, and then vice versa. He told us that it was good to use our hands to be descriptive with the clues, and to think of common phrases or brand names to get people to get to an answer. I noticed that on the better "givers" in the group, which also were the ones using their hands, he made notes on their information cards. Once the two people had each given once and received once, they were shuttled off to get their pictures taken to be stapled to their info sheets, and sent on their way.
When there were only a few of us left in the room, while he was waiting for the next two to get settled, he looked up at me and said, "Do you ever go on the Game Show Network message boards?" I replied, "Sure... what, do you lurk in there sometimes?" He replied, "No... I post in there sometimes, though. I say more than I should in there, too!" I thought that was pretty neat.
I wound up being last, and since there were an odd number of us, Stephen had one of the people who had already been up there stay to be my partner. I sat down, and he said to me, "do you want to give or receive first?" I said, "I'll give... ...I feel like I'm on the old show." (smile) He smiled back and said, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen. (having the option to give or receive in the main game)"
I think I did well. I've always been afraid of receiving, but did well with that, too. I think we only really got stuck on one of each, which wasn't bad at all. He thanked us, I thanked him and shook his hand. He had told all of us to be at the stage at 5:00 when the finalists would be announced. I asked him after my audition if it was really necessary to be there at 5:00 as I had to work. He said, "well, no, but yes - be there." He told us that they were going to pick four (I think) finalists and announce them at 5:00, they would all play a game on stage, and then their names were going to be thrown into a hopper, and one of them would be drawn to go on the show.
I got my picture taken, and then wandered outside to call work to beg to come in late, and was able to. After my phone call, I went to the stage area, where there was now a big crowd because Donny was scheduled to be there at noon -- it was just a few minutes before noon. I saw Stephen again, and got his attention and told him, "Just so you know, I'm just getting over a cold -- that's why my voice is so crappy." He said, "aah, okay... hey, go tell Bill -- he's the tall guy with the hat over there -- go tell Bill you're one of the contestants." I said, "Okay!" and went over to Bill who was at the side of the stage. I introduced myself and told him that "Steve told me to tell you that I'm one of the contestants" (not knowing quite what was meant by that), and Bill said, "okay, great" and opened up the rope barrier to let me in to the stage area. He introduced me to two local radio DJ's, "Crisco" and "Jackson". (Okay, one's an intern, but whatever.) Crisco indicated to me that he loved Pyramid. Jackson indicated that if I was on his team, I'd be carrying the team. It clicked in my mind that it said on the City Sweep site that at the various city sweep events that local celebrities would be playing the game on stage, and I was about to be in that game! They picked one other contestant (a female who had auditioned but was cut), and we had a coin toss to determine partners. The lady lost the toss, giving me the choice. I picked Crisco, and on to the stage we went! They had four headset microphones set out for us (think Brittney Spears type microphones). Of the four of us (including two radio people), I was the only one who knew how to wear the headsets -- the other three were putting the band on top of their heads, rather than behind them, which looked ridiculous. The emcee came out on stage (not Donny), and introduced us to the crowd of about 300 (waiting for Osmond's appearance, no doubt), and away we went!
There were six categories put out on the pyramid monitors (all Minnesota themed), complete with actual game sound effects. I was given first choice, and picked a "Camp Snoopy" themed category, which turned out to be about dogs, if I remember correctly. I've always had a knack of figuring out what the categories are generally about, but more so as to which ones are more difficult than the others, and I was dead on all game.
First round (the Snoopy one), we got five out of six. Twenty seconds goes by quickly! The crowd applauded, I high-fived Crisco, and the other team got to pick. While they were playing, I whispered to Crisco, "Let's pick, Princess Kay of the Milky Way" -- I bet it's about dairy products or candy bars," he agreed. Before I knew it, the crowd was cheering -- the other team (with Jackson, who didn't know anything about the game) just got six out of six! We were down a point, six to five.
Round two. Princess Kay, "describe these dairy products" (yes!), first was Ice Cream ("Baskin Robins" I said, while making an ice cream scooping motion), don't remember what was second or third, but I won't forget #4 - "Sour Cream." I said, "Not sweet, but ____" (trying to get him to say "sour"), he didn't. He said everything but, and even said, "Whipped Cream". I tried to get him to stay near that, but finally gave up and passed to get to "Eggnog." "You drink this during the holidays!" I shouted, and time ran out, and then Crisco said "Eggnog." He knew it, but time ran out right as I said "holidays" not giving him a chance to answer. Ugh. Three right, putting us at a score of 8 to 6, but the other team still had their round two to go! Bad shape. I don't remember the category they picked, but it was one that I had guessed to be tougher, and it was. They really, really struggled, and only got two correct! TIE SCORE! (8 - 8)
Round three. I had the choice of "Maxi-apolis" or "Show me the way to Lake Wobegon". Knowing nothing about Garrison Keillor and deciding it would probably be a difficult category, I chose "Maxi-apolis", guessing to Crisco that it would be "things that are big". "Name these things that are big in Minnesota!" Woo! I don't remember the entire list, but one that sticks out in my mind was, "We're currently in this!" me: "The central time zone!" (laughter from the crowd) "The Mall of America!" Six out of six, baby! Instead of being out of the game, we were in mad control! Now, the other team had to get six out of six just to tie! The category became, "name these fictional places" (ouch!), and after them passing on the third one, I smiled at Crisco because I knew we had just won the thing. Final score, 14 - 11.
...and on to the winner's circle! The crowd cheered, and we scrambled to set up chairs for the bonus round. I was forced to receive (not where I want to be in the WC, and not how it is for season two of Pyramid), and sat with my back to the Pyramid monitors, facing the crowd. Crisco sat facing me, and we got ready. The emcee explained that there was no actual money up for grabs, and then said, "sixty seconds on the clock!", and there was silence. A computer glitch. After a minute, I offered (over microphone) that I had a wristwatch. :) I also said, "things that are technically difficult!" Finally, the computer was ready. "Sixty seconds on the clock!" - the audio guy hit the wrong button, and the background music for the bonus round started playing. I saw them scramble, hit the correct button, and the "clock" sound played. "Ready, go!" I don't remember much of it, but after the second category, I realized that all the categories had a Minnesota theme to them ("Twin Cities suburbs", "Why you read the Star Tribune", etc.). We got stuck on the Star Tribune one because Crisco forgot to say, "because", so I kept naming newspapers without the form of "Why you read the..." I think I remember the emcee saying to him, "because!" (to prompt him to say that as part of his clue). We got past it, and he gave me the clue, "I'm a candy coated in chocolate. I have a caramel center." I said, "Things a Milky Way would say, things a Snickers would say..." he then said, "I'm in a red wrapper and I'm made by Pearson." "THINGS A NUT GOODIE WOULD SAY!" Boom, winner. I beat the winner's circle, and the crowd went wild! I didn't realize it was the sixth one until everyone started cheering. I also didn't realize that there had to have been only seconds left in the round, as there was no clock facing me, and as far as I know, not one visible to Crisco either. What an experience! You truly lose track of everything while you're in that seat, and I only paid attention to my partner the whole time. The only other thing I could hear while the round was going was the "ding" of a correct category as it kind of "cut" through the air. Besides that, even if there were a million people out there, it was just him and me. When I won, I was really excited. ...and that proves what a great game Pyramid is. I'm bolding this for a reason: The amount of money a show gives away does not determine how exciting a show is. I won nothing (other than the same game that everyone else did), but I was excited as anything! It doesn't matter whether they're giving away ten cents or ten thousand dollars, Pyramid is a really great, solid game concept, and the drama is there to make the game exciting no matter how much money is at stake. Even if Pyramid only gave away a thousand dollars for a WC win, it would still be more exciting than Pepsi's "play for a billion" or anything else out there with big money.
All four of us got "Pyramid", the home game to take with us, and we were backstage when Donny was introduced and ran by us to get on stage. In retrospect, I should have had Donny autograph the game -- I thought about it, but I didn't want to seem like I was one of the "groupies" getting all googly over him.
So, after all of that, I went to my car to put my winnings in the trunk, then back into the mall for lunch. I was looking at the menu of a new BBQ place, to decide if I wanted to eat there, and the person in front of me turned around to go somewhere else, and it was Stephen Brown again. I did a double-take, assured him that I wasn't following him, and went on with my lunch. I wound up getting pasta from the pizza place, and sat and ate. Stephen passed by my table on his way back to the Pyramid area and told me to check with him after the 1:30p audition group (the second of three audition groups for the day) and he'd let me know where I was in the standings (because he knew I had to get to work). I nodded, and enjoyed the rest of my lunch.
At 3:30 when the third audition group was scheduled to go in (and the 1:30 was just wrapping up), I snuck in (okay, with the permission of the Pyramid staff), and said to Stephen, "I know you're busy, I can just stick around until 5:00 if you want..." He looked up and said, "Well... we had a lot of really good people in this last group... I think it's going to put you a little bit below the threshold... ...but it doesn't mean that you can't get called back, either." (He had explained earlier that they have taken more than one person from the mall events and flown them to L.A. to be on the show, but that at each event they only determine one person, and then sometimes call other people who applied and invite them on the show.) I thanked him, indicated that I could always use a job, too! :) ...and went on my way.
I'll admit it. I was a little dejected that night at work. I had tried not to get my hopes up leading up to the event, and even in the audition session, but things just seemed to be falling into place, I thought that perhaps -- perhaps I had a chance. ...and I'm not completely out the running, but I'm not holding my breath either. Regardless, it was a great, great experience. ...and getting to play on stage was just icing on the cake -- it made a great day even better.
The entire crew was really awesome. From the production assistants that were there to the emcee on stage to Stephen himself, it was a blast to be there, and even if I never make it on the show, I'll always know that I went to the top of the pyramid in less than sixty seconds! Truly a classy operation. I know that dealing with the public can be less than fun at times (that's an understatement), and having to deal with hundreds of wanna-bees (like me) can be a real pain in the rump. I found in particular Stephen Brown to be a truly nice, friendly person, who didn't seem to be bothered by having to deal with everyone trying to get on the show. He struck me as someone I wouldn't mind having coffee with and just talking shop.
I think I'm going to send a "thank you" card to him and all of the Pyramid crew, as I'm sure they probably don't get much praise for their dedication and hard work. As I said above, the whole day was really a blast, and I'm thankful for the opportunity.
...and that, is a long post. Time to post and go to bed.
I managed to get an audition time for the Donny Osmond hosted "Pyramid" game show during their "Pyramid City Sweep" event at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.
I was told that I had an audition time of 10:00a, and to be there no less than ten minutes early. I woke up a little after 8:00, and got to the mall right at 9:30. I went to the area where the Pyramid stage was set up. On the stage was a nice mock up of the set, including a pyramid of six monitors with trusses and everything, designed to look very much like the set. Also, two contestant desks were on the stage, also in the styling of the show.
I asked at one of the tables, and was instructed where to go for the audition -- an empty store on the first level. There was already a line there of about forty people -- all registered in advance (I believe) waiting to check in. I hopped into line, got checked in, and went into the store. There were around 100 folding chairs set up, each with a clipboard and a "pyramidgameshow.com" pen. :) There was a contestant application/information sheet on everyone's clipboard which we were instructed to fill out. It had typical things on it such as name, address, phone number, hobbies/interests, have you been on any other game/reality shows in the past ten years, if so which?, etc. Attached to that card was a salmon colored sheet with thirty numbered blank lines.
While we were waiting, they had a DVD running of an episode from the first season with a $25,000 win on it.
About ten minutes past 10:00, a man came up to the front of the room and introduced himself as Stephen Brown, executive producer of Pyramid! I was impressed that the E.P. of the show would be at a publicity tour -- I figured that there would be a contestant coordinator of sorts there, but not the big cheese himself. Anyhoo, he introduced himself, and thanked everyone for coming. He asked a few general questions and then explained how the audition process was going to work. He showed a montage video of a lot of winner's circle categories, clues, and answers, with the montage finishing with a $100K win (with less than a second on the clock!). He told us that the first part of the audition process was to play the end game - the winner's circle round. He was going to put in a tape with a list of five items for each blank, and our job was to write in the category for each list. Essentially, "receiving" in the end game, but writing our guess on paper. We were only allowed to write one answer, and were told to write something down for each answer, even if it was only a guess. He said, "so, for example, if the tape says, 'A Shamrock, Grass, A Pine Tree, Certain Paint', you would write, 'things that are green.' Don't just write 'green' because I'll mark you wrong." He told us to write the following in the margin of our sheets:
"Things that are..."
"What a ___ might say"
"Reasons..." (which he told us that the key word to listen to was "because" -- "Because you want to be informed - because you like the comic strips - because you follow the stock market" ("reasons you read the newspaper")
Basically, it was a list of the three most common "styles" of WC categories. ...and we were told to write our answers in those forms, as it is also the form that must be used on the show.
He selected "tape 3" of WC category clues, but the tape wasn't cued up. He had to fast-forward through an entire Pyramid episode, which created a lull in all of the conversation in the room. While he was racking through the tape, I piped up and said, "Thank you for bringing back the score displays on the contestant tables." He looked up at me, smiled with an acknowledgment that I paid attention to the finer details of the show (beyond the "ooh, Donny Osmond" that everyone else was asking questions about), and said, "You're welcome. I resisted those for a long time, but I finally gave in." I figured that I might not have the opportunity ever again to directly talk to the E.P. of the show, and it was an improvement that I was very much in favor of, and I think it was taken well.
He got to the beginning of the "welcome to the audition", a videotaped statement from Donny himself, and he fast-forwarded right through it! He told us that we didn't need to hear it, as it more or less said everything he had already told us. He rolled the tape at the sample clues, which included the "things that are green" that he had already given us. ...and then the test began.
He had warned us that they would be going pretty quickly, and he wasn't lying! He also told us that there would be a very low threshold for who makes it and who gets cut. "Just so you know, I think one or two of you might not make it (he said to the group of 65 of us)." (cue laughter) He told us that he couldn't tell us how many you could get wrong and still move on (I personally think that it was because it's essentially graded on a 'curve' of sorts), but that it was a low number.
The test went through, and it was pretty rapid-fire. I got stuck on two or three of them, but figured out what it was by the fifth clue, which left very little time to write the answer as the next one was already starting. Two of them I wrote down the keyword, and then when I had time with others, went back to write the phrasing around it. For ones with clues that began with "I'm a ...", I learned to immediately begin writing, "What a ___________ might say" instead of waiting until I figured out what the "blank" might be.
I'm not going to discuss the clues or categories in detail. It wouldn't be fair to someone who may audition with that tape in the future on the off chance they read this, and I don't know how necessary it is to get into the specific categories.
I will say that I was only unsure of one, maybe two on the entire test. I actually though that perhaps I aced it, especially after discussing an answer with the people around me after we had turned in our tests to be "graded". The category listed five book titles, only one of which I knew for sure was by a specific author. I guessed at, "(author name) novels", which turned out to be right.
While the tests were being graded, Stephen came back in front of the group, and fielded more questions. A lot of the questions were "What's Donny Osmond really like?" and things of that nature. One person asked about having returning champions, which Stephen indicated would not be happening anytime soon. He explained that the shows are aired in the order they decide, not in the order of taping, and between markets that double-run the show and different celebrities every two to three shows, it just wasn't gonna happen. There were a couple of remarks he made which basically said, "That was the old show, this is the current show, we're doing our thing with the current show and we've made changes that we think are in the best interest of the show, so cope with it and enjoy it." (not a direct quote, just more or less what I got out of a couple of comments) ...which, I think is a fair statement to make, too. Whether it's six clues in twenty seconds or seven in thirty, the game play is essentially the same. They've made some changes, yes, and that's the show that we get. I still enjoy the show, even if I maybe would do some things differently. But I digress...
I asked an intelligent question (I thought). I asked what the atmosphere was like when Dick Clark was a guest on the show. He told me that it was great, that Pyramid really is Dick's show, and that both Dick and Donny are good friends, and that he (Stephen) also has a good relationship with Dick Clark as Stephen was a (the?) producer of Winning Lines! I didn't know that, and thought it was kind of neat. (According to TVTome.com, he was also the co-executive producer of "Legends of the Hidden Temple.")
Finally, the tests were graded and Stephen brought a small stack to the front of the room. He told us that fifteen people were going to be staying, and that if he didn't read our name that he thanked us for taking the time to try out, and to keep watching Pyramid! He read thirteen names (with most of the people applauding after each name read!), then he read my name. I was beginning to get nervous -- I was positive I nailed the test, but kept waiting and waiting... :) The fifteenth name was of a radio personality that I knew because I interned at the radio station she was at years ago...
So, a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and we moved on...
Some people asked to know how they did on the test. He told us that he couldn't tell us, but he did tell us that nobody got a perfect score. As best I could tell, the "worst" anyone in our group did was three wrong, but I'm not certain of that.
He had the fifteen of us gather closer to the front of the room, and then congratulated us on making it that far in the audition process, and explained that we'd be playing the front game with each other in front of him. He took two people at a time and with chairs facing each other, had one person give while the other received, and then vice versa. He told us that it was good to use our hands to be descriptive with the clues, and to think of common phrases or brand names to get people to get to an answer. I noticed that on the better "givers" in the group, which also were the ones using their hands, he made notes on their information cards. Once the two people had each given once and received once, they were shuttled off to get their pictures taken to be stapled to their info sheets, and sent on their way.
When there were only a few of us left in the room, while he was waiting for the next two to get settled, he looked up at me and said, "Do you ever go on the Game Show Network message boards?" I replied, "Sure... what, do you lurk in there sometimes?" He replied, "No... I post in there sometimes, though. I say more than I should in there, too!" I thought that was pretty neat.
I wound up being last, and since there were an odd number of us, Stephen had one of the people who had already been up there stay to be my partner. I sat down, and he said to me, "do you want to give or receive first?" I said, "I'll give... ...I feel like I'm on the old show." (smile) He smiled back and said, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen. (having the option to give or receive in the main game)"
I think I did well. I've always been afraid of receiving, but did well with that, too. I think we only really got stuck on one of each, which wasn't bad at all. He thanked us, I thanked him and shook his hand. He had told all of us to be at the stage at 5:00 when the finalists would be announced. I asked him after my audition if it was really necessary to be there at 5:00 as I had to work. He said, "well, no, but yes - be there." He told us that they were going to pick four (I think) finalists and announce them at 5:00, they would all play a game on stage, and then their names were going to be thrown into a hopper, and one of them would be drawn to go on the show.
I got my picture taken, and then wandered outside to call work to beg to come in late, and was able to. After my phone call, I went to the stage area, where there was now a big crowd because Donny was scheduled to be there at noon -- it was just a few minutes before noon. I saw Stephen again, and got his attention and told him, "Just so you know, I'm just getting over a cold -- that's why my voice is so crappy." He said, "aah, okay... hey, go tell Bill -- he's the tall guy with the hat over there -- go tell Bill you're one of the contestants." I said, "Okay!" and went over to Bill who was at the side of the stage. I introduced myself and told him that "Steve told me to tell you that I'm one of the contestants" (not knowing quite what was meant by that), and Bill said, "okay, great" and opened up the rope barrier to let me in to the stage area. He introduced me to two local radio DJ's, "Crisco" and "Jackson". (Okay, one's an intern, but whatever.) Crisco indicated to me that he loved Pyramid. Jackson indicated that if I was on his team, I'd be carrying the team. It clicked in my mind that it said on the City Sweep site that at the various city sweep events that local celebrities would be playing the game on stage, and I was about to be in that game! They picked one other contestant (a female who had auditioned but was cut), and we had a coin toss to determine partners. The lady lost the toss, giving me the choice. I picked Crisco, and on to the stage we went! They had four headset microphones set out for us (think Brittney Spears type microphones). Of the four of us (including two radio people), I was the only one who knew how to wear the headsets -- the other three were putting the band on top of their heads, rather than behind them, which looked ridiculous. The emcee came out on stage (not Donny), and introduced us to the crowd of about 300 (waiting for Osmond's appearance, no doubt), and away we went!
There were six categories put out on the pyramid monitors (all Minnesota themed), complete with actual game sound effects. I was given first choice, and picked a "Camp Snoopy" themed category, which turned out to be about dogs, if I remember correctly. I've always had a knack of figuring out what the categories are generally about, but more so as to which ones are more difficult than the others, and I was dead on all game.
First round (the Snoopy one), we got five out of six. Twenty seconds goes by quickly! The crowd applauded, I high-fived Crisco, and the other team got to pick. While they were playing, I whispered to Crisco, "Let's pick, Princess Kay of the Milky Way" -- I bet it's about dairy products or candy bars," he agreed. Before I knew it, the crowd was cheering -- the other team (with Jackson, who didn't know anything about the game) just got six out of six! We were down a point, six to five.
Round two. Princess Kay, "describe these dairy products" (yes!), first was Ice Cream ("Baskin Robins" I said, while making an ice cream scooping motion), don't remember what was second or third, but I won't forget #4 - "Sour Cream." I said, "Not sweet, but ____" (trying to get him to say "sour"), he didn't. He said everything but, and even said, "Whipped Cream". I tried to get him to stay near that, but finally gave up and passed to get to "Eggnog." "You drink this during the holidays!" I shouted, and time ran out, and then Crisco said "Eggnog." He knew it, but time ran out right as I said "holidays" not giving him a chance to answer. Ugh. Three right, putting us at a score of 8 to 6, but the other team still had their round two to go! Bad shape. I don't remember the category they picked, but it was one that I had guessed to be tougher, and it was. They really, really struggled, and only got two correct! TIE SCORE! (8 - 8)
Round three. I had the choice of "Maxi-apolis" or "Show me the way to Lake Wobegon". Knowing nothing about Garrison Keillor and deciding it would probably be a difficult category, I chose "Maxi-apolis", guessing to Crisco that it would be "things that are big". "Name these things that are big in Minnesota!" Woo! I don't remember the entire list, but one that sticks out in my mind was, "We're currently in this!" me: "The central time zone!" (laughter from the crowd) "The Mall of America!" Six out of six, baby! Instead of being out of the game, we were in mad control! Now, the other team had to get six out of six just to tie! The category became, "name these fictional places" (ouch!), and after them passing on the third one, I smiled at Crisco because I knew we had just won the thing. Final score, 14 - 11.
...and on to the winner's circle! The crowd cheered, and we scrambled to set up chairs for the bonus round. I was forced to receive (not where I want to be in the WC, and not how it is for season two of Pyramid), and sat with my back to the Pyramid monitors, facing the crowd. Crisco sat facing me, and we got ready. The emcee explained that there was no actual money up for grabs, and then said, "sixty seconds on the clock!", and there was silence. A computer glitch. After a minute, I offered (over microphone) that I had a wristwatch. :) I also said, "things that are technically difficult!" Finally, the computer was ready. "Sixty seconds on the clock!" - the audio guy hit the wrong button, and the background music for the bonus round started playing. I saw them scramble, hit the correct button, and the "clock" sound played. "Ready, go!" I don't remember much of it, but after the second category, I realized that all the categories had a Minnesota theme to them ("Twin Cities suburbs", "Why you read the Star Tribune", etc.). We got stuck on the Star Tribune one because Crisco forgot to say, "because", so I kept naming newspapers without the form of "Why you read the..." I think I remember the emcee saying to him, "because!" (to prompt him to say that as part of his clue). We got past it, and he gave me the clue, "I'm a candy coated in chocolate. I have a caramel center." I said, "Things a Milky Way would say, things a Snickers would say..." he then said, "I'm in a red wrapper and I'm made by Pearson." "THINGS A NUT GOODIE WOULD SAY!" Boom, winner. I beat the winner's circle, and the crowd went wild! I didn't realize it was the sixth one until everyone started cheering. I also didn't realize that there had to have been only seconds left in the round, as there was no clock facing me, and as far as I know, not one visible to Crisco either. What an experience! You truly lose track of everything while you're in that seat, and I only paid attention to my partner the whole time. The only other thing I could hear while the round was going was the "ding" of a correct category as it kind of "cut" through the air. Besides that, even if there were a million people out there, it was just him and me. When I won, I was really excited. ...and that proves what a great game Pyramid is. I'm bolding this for a reason: The amount of money a show gives away does not determine how exciting a show is. I won nothing (other than the same game that everyone else did), but I was excited as anything! It doesn't matter whether they're giving away ten cents or ten thousand dollars, Pyramid is a really great, solid game concept, and the drama is there to make the game exciting no matter how much money is at stake. Even if Pyramid only gave away a thousand dollars for a WC win, it would still be more exciting than Pepsi's "play for a billion" or anything else out there with big money.
All four of us got "Pyramid", the home game to take with us, and we were backstage when Donny was introduced and ran by us to get on stage. In retrospect, I should have had Donny autograph the game -- I thought about it, but I didn't want to seem like I was one of the "groupies" getting all googly over him.
So, after all of that, I went to my car to put my winnings in the trunk, then back into the mall for lunch. I was looking at the menu of a new BBQ place, to decide if I wanted to eat there, and the person in front of me turned around to go somewhere else, and it was Stephen Brown again. I did a double-take, assured him that I wasn't following him, and went on with my lunch. I wound up getting pasta from the pizza place, and sat and ate. Stephen passed by my table on his way back to the Pyramid area and told me to check with him after the 1:30p audition group (the second of three audition groups for the day) and he'd let me know where I was in the standings (because he knew I had to get to work). I nodded, and enjoyed the rest of my lunch.
At 3:30 when the third audition group was scheduled to go in (and the 1:30 was just wrapping up), I snuck in (okay, with the permission of the Pyramid staff), and said to Stephen, "I know you're busy, I can just stick around until 5:00 if you want..." He looked up and said, "Well... we had a lot of really good people in this last group... I think it's going to put you a little bit below the threshold... ...but it doesn't mean that you can't get called back, either." (He had explained earlier that they have taken more than one person from the mall events and flown them to L.A. to be on the show, but that at each event they only determine one person, and then sometimes call other people who applied and invite them on the show.) I thanked him, indicated that I could always use a job, too! :) ...and went on my way.
I'll admit it. I was a little dejected that night at work. I had tried not to get my hopes up leading up to the event, and even in the audition session, but things just seemed to be falling into place, I thought that perhaps -- perhaps I had a chance. ...and I'm not completely out the running, but I'm not holding my breath either. Regardless, it was a great, great experience. ...and getting to play on stage was just icing on the cake -- it made a great day even better.
The entire crew was really awesome. From the production assistants that were there to the emcee on stage to Stephen himself, it was a blast to be there, and even if I never make it on the show, I'll always know that I went to the top of the pyramid in less than sixty seconds! Truly a classy operation. I know that dealing with the public can be less than fun at times (that's an understatement), and having to deal with hundreds of wanna-bees (like me) can be a real pain in the rump. I found in particular Stephen Brown to be a truly nice, friendly person, who didn't seem to be bothered by having to deal with everyone trying to get on the show. He struck me as someone I wouldn't mind having coffee with and just talking shop.
I think I'm going to send a "thank you" card to him and all of the Pyramid crew, as I'm sure they probably don't get much praise for their dedication and hard work. As I said above, the whole day was really a blast, and I'm thankful for the opportunity.
...and that, is a long post. Time to post and go to bed.