I was FRONT ROW for the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and Jimmy even said hi to me! This was my first experience with going to a taping of the Tonight Show, but I hope it is not my last.

Getting tickets was a process. You have to put your name in a drawing, which is time sensitive, and then just hope to get picked. The tickets are free, but just not guaranteed that you’ll get picked. I followed @FallonTix on Twitter, which tweets when the ticket drawings open. Typically they release the drawing the month prior, and the spots fill up really quickly. You are limited to putting your name in for 3 different dates, and the celebrity guests are not listed. Basically, you just have to make sure that the date works for you. If you want my opinion on how to better your chances of getting picked, you have to spend time writing something in the comments. The audience of the Tonight Show is the only laugh track for the show, so they want fans of Jimmy’s in the audience. I wrote in the comments about how I was a huge fan of Jimmy’s and that I watch the Tonight Show religiously, etc. I can’t guarantee that this is the trick, but I do think it helps.

I got an email confirming that I received tickets about 3 weeks prior to the show. It gave me the date and asked for a confirmation of who will be taking my second ticket, and just like that I was all set. I tried to research who the guests were scheduled to be, but that information was not released until the week before.  Now, I do my research, so I read a blog that someone else wrote about attending the Tonight Show, and in that person’s experience, the show taped and aired on the same day. Since I assumed this to be true for all shows, my best friend and I were under the impression that we were going to see Jada Pinkett Smith and the Backstreet Boys. Welp, we were wrong. You see, we went on a Thursday, and they do two tapings on Thursday so that no one has to work Friday’s. Since we were attending the second taping, we were actually going to the Friday show, not the Thursday show. So, no Backstreet Boys and no Jada, but don’t worry it all turns out okay!

We got to Rockefeller Center with enough time to sort of explore, get something to eat, and get in line with plenty of time to spare. The check in deadline was 5:45, but we were allowed in up to half an hour prior. We were given new tickets at check-in that had a letter written in Sharpie on the back, which is what they used later on to line us up alphabetically. Our letter was H, and when they called up the first half of the alphabet, the only ones in front of us were two girls with the letter G, which resulted in the four of us being front row! The NBC Pages and staff do a great job of really hyping you up along the way, as well as keeping things orderly in getting everyone to their seats.

The show we saw aired on Friday, January 25th, and the guests were Matt Le Blanc, Nikki and Brie Bella, and Jo Firestone. Of course we all know Matt Le Blanc as Joey from Friends, and the Bella Twins have their own reality show (Nikki was also on Dancing with the Stars, which is what I know her from). Jo Firestone is a comedian that used to be a writer for the Tonight Show, so I actually recognized her right away, but I don’t believe she is super well known yet. It was a great show to go to, there was a lot of laughter, and being in the front row was just so super cool.

When Jimmy walked out for his monologue and we all started cheering, my friend and I waved our hands and jumped up and down excitedly. This of course got Jimmy’s attention – AND HE LOOKED RIGHT AT US, POINTED, SAID HELLO AND THANKED US FOR COMING!! It was seriously so awesome. At the very very end of the show, Jimmy walks through the audience and gives everyone a high five. Since I was in the front row, he kind of high fived me but it turned into more of a handshake, and then he leaned past me to high five the guy behind me as well. I seriously thought about just going for it and giving him a hug since we were already almost there, but I was afraid that NBC would give me some sort of restraining order and I wouldn’t be allowed back.

We got home in time to watch the show with Jada and the Backstreet Boys that we originally thought we were attending. I was honestly confused by the Backstreet performance in chicken suits, but it was overall a good show. The following night was when the show we saw aired, and of course I had it turned on to watch. Seeing Jimmy’s “hello” to us back on screen was awesome, and you can see my friend and me at the very very end during the credits as well.

Definitely check out the episode (again, aired on Friday, January 25th, 2019) and for sure put your name in to try to get tickets to go to a taping of Jimmy as well!

Thanks for reading.