Hanging out with 600 friends in Union Square this morning! Thanks for braving the heat! #LSSC pic.twitter.com/Pw4dMgogX0
— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) August 16, 2015
Sunday August 16th I woke up at 5 am. The only reason I woke up that early on a Sunday, was to attend the ‘Secret Manhattan Shoot’. I received an email the night before regarding the time to get there, and the “secret location”. The email stated to arrive between 8:15 and 9 am next to the Union Square Drinking Fountain. I arrived at around 8 am at the “secret location”. There were several people dressed in white shirts and black pants with CBS tags. Once I saw them I knew I was in the right spot. There were quite a few people in line. I heard later on that some people got there as early as 6:30 or 7 am for this event. The CBS crew (I’m going to refer to them as this for the rest of the report) didn’t really say much to us at first. They were all talking, and had headsets on. I recognized one guy who would sometimes do warm up for ‘The Colbert Report’. I forgot his name, but he was there with the CBS crew getting ready for this “secret” event. This event was really kept a secret. A few people in line would ask the CBS crew if they knew what was going on, and all they kept saying was that it was as much as a secret for them as it was for us. Even people that casually walked by would ask, and they would just say it’s a secret shoot for ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’. Eventually the crew started checking everyone in. I was with a friend of mine, and we both got checked in. They gave us these little lion stamps on our hands. A little while after that, I saw the crew had bags of white and red balloons. They started giving everyone a balloon, and told us to please not blow them up yet. After all the lion stamps and balloons were given out, we waited in line for a little longer. The crew would come walk up and down by the line and ask “Does everyone have a little lion and a ballon?”. If anyone else heard this they would probably think we were part of some circus event.
A few minutes later they started to move us towards the front of Union Square. Once my friend and I were moved to the front of the park I noticed cameras. There was one camera on the roof of the Burlington Coat Factory across the street. There was also a woman taking still photos, and a director on top of the roof as well. There was a tripod camera set up towards the left in the street not too far from the crowd of us. I also noticed a CBS van across the street. We were all just kind of gathering in one huge crowd in front of the steps of Union Square. The CBS crew started to organize us into sets of lines. The director on the roof was communicating with them to organize everyone, so that we would fit in the shot. I was wondering this entire time; What could this possibly be for? A crowd of people with deflated red and white balloons; What would we be doing? Is Stephen going to show up? Was this all a joke? Was Stephen trying to pull the biggest Punk’d scheme ever ? In midst of my thoughts the crew started to say we could blow up the balloons. Blowing up balloons in 95 degree weather isn’t the best thing for a girl with asthma to do. I was able to blow up the balloon without passing out. They also started to give out more balloons. Everyone had one red and one white balloon. The crew was still trying to organize everyone. They even started to pull people off the street to ask if they wanted to be a part of this. It was beginning to become quite a big crowd.
I was talking to my friend, when suddenly I noticed that a few feet away from us was Stephen’s family. Evie and his three kids were all there, and holding the same balloons we were. So one question of mine was answered, Stephen would in fact be there. Evie and the kids were talking to a few people. I recognized one guy they were talking to. He used to check in people at The Colbert Report. After the crew had the crowd of us organized the way they needed us to, Stephen’s family joined the crowd. Evie was actually standing about 5 feet from me. One woman complimented her on the dress she was wearing. She asked Evie where she got it, and Evie said she really didn’t remember, and that she has had that dress for a while. Evie was really nice, and kept saying thank you to the woman that was complimenting her. While all this was going on I failed to notice that a car had pulled up, and Stephen had arrived. My friend quickly got my attention by hitting my arm and saying Colbert. I looked ahead of me and there he was. Everyone was cheering, and Stephen then got on the back of a truck with a megaphone in hand to talk to us. He greeted us all, and said that we are about to be part of something very special for the show. He kept thanking us all for being there. He also said that he could not tell us what we were about to do was for exactly or when it would be on the show. He kind of laughed and smiled after saying that, which makes me think this could possibly be for the first show. He then told us what we were going to do. He said we were going to play that game of keeping the balloon in the air, and that he would join us in doing so. He asked if we were all ready, and we cheered and yelled in response.
Stephen then got off the truck, and started to high five the front of the crowd. You could tell he was really happy to be there with all of us. This was an audience for him, and he looked thrilled to be there. After giving high fives to the front of the crowd he started to make his way to where I was standing. I had forgotten that Evie was by me the whole time, and that he would go meet with her. He got to where Evie was, and talked to her and someone else that was with her for a few seconds. Then they were told that they had to move to be more front and center of the crowd. Once he was moved to be front and center, Stephen asked if everyone was ready. We all cheered , and then I saw Mark the stage manager from The Colbert Report. Mark counted us off, and then the fun began. We all started hitting the balloons. It was a lot of fun. This all lasted a few minutes and then Mark said that’s a wrap. We were all cheering.
Stephen then ran back to the truck with the megaphone to talk to us. He kept thanking us all for being there, and that it meant a lot to him. He was really sweet in saying all of that. He said that again he can’t tell us when this would air, but that we would all be in it, and to tune into the show. He then said he would now take a selfie with us. He couldn’t seem to find his phone, but someone that was with Evie handed him their phone. He then took a few selfies with us in the background. After that he turned to us and said that now we have all had our picture with him, and that he would post it on Twitter for all of us to have. We all laughed and cheered. With that, he thanked us once more, and he got into a car and left. We all cheered, and then we were all told to please pop the balloons, and throw them in the bags that the crew members were holding. For about 5 minutes all that was heard in Union Square was the sound of popping balloons. I popped my balloons, and met up with some fellow hubsters to grab some lunch, and enjoy the day. It was a great day! I had a good time, and I can’t wait to see it on the show! My question about what this was for was left unanswered. But, I am certain that it is not the biggest Punk’d scheme ever pulled. I guess we will all just have to wait and see what the secret was. I’m hoping we will all find out September 8th at 11:35pm on CBS.
'Secret Manhattan Shoot' for 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'
Sunday August 16th I woke up at 5 am. The only reason I woke up that early on a Sunday, was to attend the ‘Secret Manhattan Shoot’. I received an email the night before regarding the time to get there, and the “secret location”. The email stated to arrive between 8:15 and 9 am next to the Union Square Drinking Fountain. I arrived at around 8 am at the “secret location”. There were several people dressed in white shirts and black pants with CBS tags. Once I saw them I knew I was in the right spot. There were quite a few people in line. I heard later on that some people got there as early as 6:30 or 7 am for this event. The CBS crew (I’m going to refer to them as this for the rest of the report) didn’t really say much to us at first. They were all talking, and had headsets on. I recognized one guy who would sometimes do warm up for ‘The Colbert Report’. I forgot his name, but he was there with the CBS crew getting ready for this “secret” event. This event was really kept a secret. A few people in line would ask the CBS crew if they knew what was going on, and all they kept saying was that it was as much as a secret for them as it was for us. Even people that casually walked by would ask, and they would just say it’s a secret shoot for ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’. Eventually the crew started checking everyone in. I was with a friend of mine, and we both got checked in. They gave us these little lion stamps on our hands. A little while after that, I saw the crew had bags of white and red balloons. They started giving everyone a balloon, and told us to please not blow them up yet. After all the lion stamps and balloons were given out, we waited in line for a little longer. The crew would come walk up and down by the line and ask “Does everyone have a little lion and a ballon?”. If anyone else heard this they would probably think we were part of some circus event.
A few minutes later they started to move us towards the front of Union Square. Once my friend and I were moved to the front of the park I noticed cameras. There was one camera on the roof of the Burlington Coat Factory across the street. There was also a woman taking still photos, and a director on top of the roof as well. There was a tripod camera set up towards the left in the street not too far from the crowd of us. I also noticed a CBS van across the street. We were all just kind of gathering in one huge crowd in front of the steps of Union Square. The CBS crew started to organize us into sets of lines. The director on the roof was communicating with them to organize everyone, so that we would fit in the shot. I was wondering this entire time; What could this possibly be for? A crowd of people with deflated red and white balloons; What would we be doing? Is Stephen going to show up? Was this all a joke? Was Stephen trying to pull the biggest Punk’d scheme ever ? In midst of my thoughts the crew started to say we could blow up the balloons. Blowing up balloons in 95 degree weather isn’t the best thing for a girl with asthma to do. I was able to blow up the balloon without passing out. They also started to give out more balloons. Everyone had one red and one white balloon. The crew was still trying to organize everyone. They even started to pull people off the street to ask if they wanted to be a part of this. It was beginning to become quite a big crowd.
I was talking to my friend, when suddenly I noticed that a few feet away from us was Stephen’s family. Evie and his three kids were all there, and holding the same balloons we were. So one question of mine was answered, Stephen would in fact be there. Evie and the kids were talking to a few people. I recognized one guy they were talking to. He used to check in people at The Colbert Report. After the crew had the crowd of us organized the way they needed us to, Stephen’s family joined the crowd. Evie was actually standing about 5 feet from me. One woman complimented her on the dress she was wearing. She asked Evie where she got it, and Evie said she really didn’t remember, and that she has had that dress for a while. Evie was really nice, and kept saying thank you to the woman that was complimenting her. While all this was going on I failed to notice that a car had pulled up, and Stephen had arrived. My friend quickly got my attention by hitting my arm and saying Colbert. I looked ahead of me and there he was. Everyone was cheering, and Stephen then got on the back of a truck with a megaphone in hand to talk to us. He greeted us all, and said that we are about to be part of something very special for the show. He kept thanking us all for being there. He also said that he could not tell us what we were about to do was for exactly or when it would be on the show. He kind of laughed and smiled after saying that, which makes me think this could possibly be for the first show. He then told us what we were going to do. He said we were going to play that game of keeping the balloon in the air, and that he would join us in doing so. He asked if we were all ready, and we cheered and yelled in response.
Stephen then got off the truck, and started to high five the front of the crowd. You could tell he was really happy to be there with all of us. This was an audience for him, and he looked thrilled to be there. After giving high fives to the front of the crowd he started to make his way to where I was standing. I had forgotten that Evie was by me the whole time, and that he would go meet with her. He got to where Evie was, and talked to her and someone else that was with her for a few seconds. Then they were told that they had to move to be more front and center of the crowd. Once he was moved to be front and center, Stephen asked if everyone was ready. We all cheered , and then I saw Mark the stage manager from The Colbert Report. Mark counted us off, and then the fun began. We all started hitting the balloons. It was a lot of fun. This all lasted a few minutes and then Mark said that’s a wrap. We were all cheering.
Stephen then ran back to the truck with the megaphone to talk to us. He kept thanking us all for being there, and that it meant a lot to him. He was really sweet in saying all of that. He said that again he can’t tell us when this would air, but that we would all be in it, and to tune into the show. He then said he would now take a selfie with us. He couldn’t seem to find his phone, but someone that was with Evie handed him their phone. He then took a few selfies with us in the background. After that he turned to us and said that now we have all had our picture with him, and that he would post it on Twitter for all of us to have. We all laughed and cheered. With that, he thanked us once more, and he got into a car and left. We all cheered, and then we were all told to please pop the balloons, and throw them in the bags that the crew members were holding. For about 5 minutes all that was heard in Union Square was the sound of popping balloons. I popped my balloons, and met up with some fellow hubsters to grab some lunch, and enjoy the day. It was a great day! I had a good time, and I can’t wait to see it on the show! My question about what this was for was left unanswered. But, I am certain that it is not the biggest Punk’d scheme ever pulled. I guess we will all just have to wait and see what the secret was. I’m hoping we will all find out September 8th at 11:35pm on CBS.