The Daily Show in Saint Paul FAQ
If you were as lucky as I was, on May 1st, 2008 you got to reserve tickets to one of the nights The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is taping at the History Theatre in Saint Paul this week. I was there today and got a lot of questions. Here are the answers:
Q: If I don't have tickets, what are the chances of me getting in? A: Almost nil. I'm not sure if it's even worth trying. Q: I have tickets; what time should I show up? A: I got there at 2:00 and my group, Ann Friedrich, Rex Sorgatz and Ana Marie Cox got decent seats. My friend and coworker Ian Davis got there about 2:50 and he was seated in the balcony. Ed Kohler got there at 3:20 and got seated in the "simulcast theater." Jeremy Gibbens, Angie Dezelske, Max Sparber and Courtney Mault arrived before I did and got great seating. Get there around two. Update: Angie Dezelske states that for Wednesday's show, there was a line of 100 people not long after 2:00. Q: How do I get to the History Theatre? A: The History Theatre is at 30 10th St E. I was surprised I found a place to park. There's a lot at Jackson and 7th that was only four dollars and there were a number of open spaces. Make sure you have exact change. There's another lot nearby that's ten bucks. Metro Transit has rerouted buses and many drop you off a block away from the theater. Here's a map PDF. Q: I heard there are riots in Saint Paul. Is it safe? A: I'd say yes, for the most part. As you've likely seen in photos and video, there are forces in riot gear and an incredible police presence in Saint Paul. The Daily Show blog even calls Saint Paul a "police state". It sure seems true at times. It's unnerving, but the law enforcement outnumber the rioters by an enormous margin. Unfortunately, the History Theatre is humorously smack dab in the middle of the approved protest route. After the taping on Tuesday we were told we were on "lockdown" due to protestors outside that had the potential of getting violent. We had to remain in our seats. After most of it passed, we were given the option to leave at our own risk. Walking back to the car we had to wait to get permission from police in riot gear to cross an intersection. Q: How strongly do they enforce the no-food, no-phone, and no-camera rules? A: Ann took a photo and got her camera taken away. Ana was told to turn off her iPhone. It's enforced. I snuck the above photo before taping started and turned off my phone. I don't recommend trying it because everyone's watching. Q: When and how do we get in? A: While in line, you're asked for your name and you're given plastic tickets with handwritten numbers on them. You are given one ticket per person that you are with, up to the amount of tickets you reserved. The email tickets imply this happens at 3:31 but it happened a bit later for us. If there are more people in your party that are not present yet, I do not believe they will get tickets. By 4:30 or so they started letting people in to the theater lobby where you go through metal detectors. Around 5:15 we were seated by the numbers on the plastic tickets. Q: When is the actual taping? The opener (for us it was Paul Mecurio), started just after 6:00. Jon Stewart came up and continued to warm up the crowd, mostly by taking questions from the audience. Taping then began and it was done around 7:15. Q: Is it fun? A: It's seriously hilarious. More from David Brauer, Jeremy Gibbens, Rex Sorgatz, KARE 11, The Daily Show's Indecision 2008 blog, Bob Collins and photos of us waiting in line.