Have you ever had that dream where you’re walking through Times Square, lugging shopping bags, struggling to hail a cab because, in midtown Manhattan, it’s practically impossible, and trying to figure out where you are; you look up…oh my…is that ME? (Cue the Sinatra rendition of New York, New York in my head.)
Ever since I was a little girl, traveling to New York with my mom (and sometimes dad too, when we could coerce him) was quite possibly my favorite thing in the world. I toured the World Trade Center before that fateful day in September of 2001. I soaked in every ounce of history and information on the Ellis Island tour and peered out of Lady Liberty’s crown. I saw Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria, Idina Menzel, and Kristin Chenoweth in their opening season of Wicked.
Hailing from Hoover, Alabama, I was as much a New Yorker as a non-resident could be. As a student at Auburn with the grand fortune of having a cousin who kept a condo in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, I traveled to NYC practically monthly. Since my cousin was hardly ever there, it became my second home. I love Chinatown, I love the financial district, I love Central Park and even Times Square. But Times Square is a tourist trap. It’s the kind of place everyone should see once, but it’s infuriatingly congested with cars, with people, with street performers and light pollution. But the landmark is, in fact, visible from outside Earth’s atmosphere. It requires about 161 megawatts of electricity at any given moment. That’s about the amount of electricity it requires to power 161,000 homes, twice the amount of electricity to power all the casinos in Las Vegas, and about a quarter of the output of an average nuclear power plant.
You can blame part of that light pollution on me. That’s because when I arrived in Manhattan last Thursday, I had my driver cruise down 42nd Street, where I got to see my face in dimensions larger than my apartment here in Los Angeles. After being in the music industry for 9 years, I never thought talk radio would be the reason I’d be on a billboard in Times Square. But, alas, it was. And to say it was a defining and tremendous moment for me would be an understatement. I think I went back to that spot five or six times over the course of the next few days.
As incredible as that aspect of my trip was, I was actually in New York for another reason. Since last October, I’ve been in contact with one of Greg Gutfeld’s producers. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Greg, he has hosted numerous shows on Fox News. He’s a co-host of The Five, former host of Red Eye, and now host of The Greg Gutfeld Show. He’s also written numerous bestselling books and is the former editor of Men’s Health and Stuff magazines. If you’ve heard my radio show, you know my humor oftentimes evokes “Gutfeldisms.” He’s sardonic, witty and thought-provoking, which I strive to be in my programming as well. I’ve always known his show would be a good fit for me. And as it seems, he and his staff concurred. About a month before booking me on his show, I was booked to be a guest on his podcast. I knew that this would serve as a live audition for his show on FNC television. I knew if I excelled, they’d likely want me in NYC to do The Greg Gutfeld Show. I was right. They did.
Greg is exactly the same person off-screen as is his on-air personality. Every word out of his mouth seems like something a comedy writer crafted for him-not because he sounds rehear
sed. He’s just THAT funny. And THAT smart. His producers, crew, other guests and even the audience were all amazing. The audience was so engaged and receptive and made this neophyte feel so welcome in her first outing on Fox News Channel. The whole taping process itself only lasted about an hour. When you can take out commercials, you remove a substantial part of the show. I was at FNC Headquarters a couple hours early for hair and makeup, wardrobe check and topics rundown. Topics were the easy part. I’m never short on opinions. I was the first one there other than Greg, so I was able to chat with him one-on-one in the green room for a short time. We discussed his new time slot on The Five, how it fits into his Chinese food schedule and common acquaintances in Los Angeles. As for the other guests: Tyrus is truly that big in person. I felt like the bird on the buffalo’s back next to him. He’s a gentle giant and highly intelligent. David Angelo is fantastically and effortlessly hilarious. He was highly complimentary of me knowing it was my first time. I was glad he was seated next to me. Kat Timpf has a new show on FNC called The Specialist. She’s a libertarian and her on-air personality seems to match who she is in real life.
Leaving the studio that night, I was on cloud nine and remained that way for the next few days. Reality eventually set back in as I plunked down in my seat on the flight back to LA…and when I saw my bank statement. That’s always the most sobering part. For my next appearance on Fox News, I’ll start stacking chips now.
And there will be a next time. So stay tuned!
