Monday the 14th – A WEEK LIKE NO OTHER! – On Friday the 11th I was roused from a delicious nap by my agent at 6:15pm telling me to be at NBC Monday morning at 11:15am to be the booth announcer on “The Jay Leno Show!” Apparently my second audition got me the job after all. I’d be doing it on a week-to-week basis to see how I was working out with the show. So all weekend I rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed any and all chances I got. I got in a little early on Monday, met up with Dave, my contact there, and went into the audio booth to meet up with Patrick the audio mixer. He’s a great guy and I remembered him from my initial audition, and the call-back audition. They set me up with my script for the opening and recorded me in the voice-over booth. Within a few minutes, I was finished and on my way out. Liz the director stopped me and asked if I wanted to do the announcements live during the taping from here on out. My heart pounded. Of course, I said. That would be a dream come true. She said since my reads were consistent there was no reason why I shouldn’t be there during the taping of the live show to do my announcements. I couldn’t believe it! So the next day I was to show up at NBC at 2:30 for a run through with the band, then I would do my live announces during the taping at 4pm. On my way home, I reflected that I would be the first voice, on the very first Jay Leno show! When I told a good friend that I’d be the first announcer, on the first show, and the first voice heard on the show, he said that I was officially the answer to a trivia question! That made me laugh! Later I stopped by the post office to mail off some stuff, and then I ran some errands. I made a conscious choice not to tell a lot of people about the Leno gig because you never know in the business of television if it’s going to be permanent or not. So I’m waiting to make the big announcement when and if the gig is made official. Nothing’s worse that papering the town with news about some job you’ve gotten, only to find out a few days or weeks later that you’ve been replaced. Case and point, back in the 90’s when Keenan Ivory Wayans had his nightly talk show, I was hired as the show announcer for his show. I did all of the test shows for two weeks before they launched. But on the day they launched, I was told that I had been replaced by a female announcer. So, with that fresh in my mind, I’m now very careful about what I promote. That night I recorded the audio of the show for posterity. I sat back, smiled and prayed it would last forever. But at this point, I’m being “cautiously happy.”

Tuesday the 15th – LENO SHOW DAY 2! – I went to my hair stylist’s early in the day to get a trim and a tweak on my color. Then I got over to NBC by 2:30 to do the run-through with the band and then do the voice-over at the top of the show during the taping at 4. But Patrick wasn’t ready to accommodate a live announcer yet because he had so much on his plate already, understandable with the show only in its second day. So I pre-recorded it again and was on my way out. But Wednesday would be the day I would do it live for the first time. I headed over to Best Buy to get some DVDs and grab a bite at Wendy’s. That night my contractor Terry came by to do some more work on my new Adam West display (see the Latest News page) and Mark Ackerman came over to install a new DVD-R machine in my bedroom. My head’s still spinning from the whole Leno Show thing. It’s amazing!

Wednesday the 16th – DOIN’ IT LIVE! – It was a VERY busy day today. I went to L.A. Studios in the morning to do some radio spots for Ameren, a Midwest power company. I did their TV commercials a few weeks ago, now they’re doing radio commercials as well. Then I dashed home and did some last-minute auditions in my home studio to send to my agent. Then I headed into Hollywood to run some errands and have a meeting. I was back at the Jay Leno Show at 2:30 for my run through with Kevin Eubanks’ Prime Time Band. The director ran the opening and I rehearsed once to get the timing. Then we did the run through with the band. It went pretty well, and they taped it just in case I happened to blow it during the actual taping. It went well…then…I waited. From 2:45 until 4pm. Inside my head, I was pacing around like a nervous cat. But on the outside I was trying to play it cool. I got to know Patrick the audio mixer a little better, and I’m even more convinced than ever that he’s a stellar guy. I’m gonna love working with him everyday. When it got to be 3:55, I hit the voice-over booth. I put on my headphones and waited for the countdown. I have a mic button that I hold in my hand, and I push and hold it when I speak. I cleared my throat, did a few run-throughs to myself, and got ready. In my headset, I can hear 4 things simultaneously. 1) Me, 2) the director Liz 3) the band and 4) the over all mix of the show. Getting the right balance in my headset is important. I realized how important today. I wanted to make sure that I would be able to hear my cue from Liz over the band. We got the countdown…10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1…then the band started and the animated opening started rolling. I heard on my headset “ANNOUNCE.” I started voicing the opening. It went pretty well, but I found out I was pushing a little too hard. Because once the band started, they were so loud in my headset I guess I was overcompensating to hear myself. But we got the levels squared away for the next day, and all will be peachy. I also got to do some other VO stuff on the show…a couple of bits (including the sketch “Duct Tape”) and a bumper. A bumper is an announcement that you hear just as you go into commercials. It was an amazing day and the feeling you get when you’re standing there and hear “ANNOUNCE” is indescribable! I couldn’t wait for the next day! That night I went to evening church with a very thankful heart.

Thursday the 17th – ANOTHER LONG DAY! – I went to Outlaw Sound in Hollywood in the morning to voice some TV spots for Subaru. Then I drove home and called my dentist. I got the message on Wednesday that my refurbished crown had come in and was ready to be applied. So I hightailed it over to my dentist’s in West LA and got the crown put on. Then I stopped by Laser Blazer to look at DVDs, and I went by It’s a Wrap to check out the clothes. I got another great leather fringe jacket, and a few vests from “Tropic Thunder.” I got back in time to clean up a bit, and get over to the Leno show. You would never know that it was the first week of a brand new prime time show by watching the crew. They executed everything so seamlessly, and almost like they’ve been doing it for years! An amazing crew! After my announcements are done I stay around with Patrick and watch the rest of the show from the audio booth. Just in case they need something else. I don’t leave until the director calls a wrap and dismisses the crew. That night I had a great dinner at The Smokehouse with my pal Nancy Wolfson (one of my first voice-over agents), Fred Westbrook, my friends Ginny and Sara and Chuck McCann. What fun!

Friday the 18th – WHAT A WEEK!! – My pal Electric Bob came over in the morning to finish hooking up the electrical for my Adam West display. You’ll see the new improvements soon on this very website. Stay tuned! I got him started on his wiring, while I went to Voicecasters to do an audition. On my way home I stopped at an electronics store to get a speaker and some wire for the display. I also got a switch plate for the switches that would manipulate the Adam West display. I got home and started cleaning up. My parents were coming to town that night and I wanted everything to be in order. The maids came over shortly after Electric Bob left, and started cleaning up Planet Wallywood. Then it was time to get to The Leno Show. I took my folks’ flight info with me to the studio so I could monitor their flight arrival time on-line. Everything was going marvelously. We finished the show, and on my headset, Liz the director said to me the three sweetest words I’ve ever heard…”See you Monday.” I said, “Yes you will.” I almost skipped out of the studio, but I played it cool. Dreams can come true. I pray it lasts. I headed over to the airport in Burbank, just a few miles from NBC, and got my folks. Then we got home, dumped their luggage off, and went to eat. It’s always good having the folks in town.

Saturday the 19th – WHEW! – A day of rest. I slept really late. And since my folks are on Central time they got up pretty early. But I slept in. Then we got lunch and headed over to my friend Fred’s house to hang out by the pool. That night we had a very fun Blu Saturday, with almost 16 people in my house watching “Princess Bride” on Blu Ray. What a great night!

Sunday the 20th – SHOW ME WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR! – I got up around noon and had my pal Doug and his wife Lori over with their son Patrick, to do an audition. An account was looking for believable dads and sons to do a partner read on their radio spot. I knew Patrick through church (he’s a HUGE Invader Zim fan) since his dad is a fellow elder. I thought Patrick was the perfect choice for this. So after a tour of Planet Wallywood, we did the audition. Patrick nailed the first two takes, so I decided to take the best of both takes and make a composite. I sent it off to the agent via MP3 and Patrick was off to his next audition. He’s a great kid with a bright future. That night I’d be singing Carolina Liar’s “Show Me What I’m Looking For” at church, with my buddy Bruce Kulick on guitar. Bruce has found himself very at home at church, and I’m glad. It’s a very laid back, no pressure environment. We did a rehearsal of the song at 4:30, and then we did it during church at about 6:15. After church a bunch of us went out for dinner…my friend Kristy, Sara and my folks. That night I did some auditions and hit the hay. I had a VERY busy day coming up on Monday the 21st, plus I’d be starting my second week on the Leno show. I wanted to be well rested!

And how was YOUR week??!!