Okay guys.. it finally happened. After all of my efforts and persistence in the past year since my first time calling in, I have finally MET ROSS MATHEWS FOR REAL!! It was amazing, he was incredible, and it was as wonderful as I could have asked for.

As I was getting everything together for my move, I heard on my favorite podcast, Straight Talk With Ross, that they were going to be recording a live show in NYC. I quickly checked the dates on my calendar, and decided that it was worth squeezing this trip in. My moving truck was coming on that Monday, but there was no way I could miss out on this opportunity. I mean, how often is Ross Mathews in NYC?! I quickly bought two tickets to both shows, figuring I’d find a friend who wanted to tag along with me. I wrote in on social media that I would be in attendance, and CJay announced this on the episode leading up to the live tapings. I was dying!

I’m always writing/calling into the show and interacting with the podcast crew on social media, but I wasn’t sure if any of them actually would recognize my name. I walked into the venue for the live show with my friend Jenna next to me, and the first thing I heard was someone calling my name. I looked around to see JROD walking right towards me! I gave him a big hug, pretty stunned that he was able to recognize me right upon entrance. He told me the first show was about to start and he ran off to get things started. DYING.

Jenna and I quickly got drinks and sat down for the first show. There was a bunch of the normal antics, along with interviews with drag queens Aja and Miz Cracker – who also performed. At some point, Jenna and I needed a drink refill, and I went to the bar to find CJay ordering a drink as well. I introduced myself as “Bisexual Gina” and he immediately hugged me and greeted me enthusiastically, telling me he would find me later. OMGGG YES, STILL DYING.

In between shows, my friend and I were sitting outside with other Straight Talkers who were in line for pictures in the VIP section. We got some food and as we were hanging out, I felt someone’s eyes on me. I look up to see Cjay, with his arm around ROSS MATHEWS, and POINTING AT ME! I started freaking out as they walked over and I quickly introduced myself to Ross. We talked a little about God knows what, because I basically blacked out during the interaction. He was so calm and awesome, and I was not calm and overly excited. He got pulled away quickly, but told me that he would be talking with me later. STILL DYING, IS THIS REAL?!

During the second show, Ross started calling up some of his STWR favorites up to the stage, and one of those included ME! He said that he had thought that I was going to be nuts, and I told him that I totally am. He talked about how he listens to every single one of my voicemails (I leave him about one per month) and how he plays them for the rest of the podcast crew. He was so quick with his wit, and we were able to banter easily in the funnest way. It was so unbelievable to be onstage with him, answering questions and getting to freak out along with the rest of the crowd. I even got pulled up again later on in the show to read a “good bad joke.” It was honestly more than I ever could have hoped for. I think I actually died here. Dead. 

After the second show, we hung out in the VIP section to get our pictures with the crew. What was honestly amazing was that people wanted to take picture with ME! It was really cool to feel like I had my 15 minutes of fame in some way, and everyone was so incredibly nice. Unfortunately, I had had waaayyy too much to drink and not enough to eat, so I was pretty wasted at this point. After being overly friendly, taking way too many pictures, and repeating myself several times, Jenna and I left to find food with a promise to meet up with some people later for karaoke. 

Even though I thought I was out for the count, I was able to get myself together to make it to karaoke – and I’m sure glad that I did! JRod and other Straight Talkers were there, and I brought Jenna and my other friend along with me. We put on a good show with songs like “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” and I had such a blast.

I was really feeling it the next day, and I had a ton of work to do to get my stuff ready for the moving truck, but WOW was it all worth it!! I’ve heard before that you shouldn’t meet your heroes, because you might be disappointed, but Ross was everything I could have asked for and more! I am so incredibly thankful and happy for this experience and I sure hope that I get to interact with Ross again in the future.

To listen to the live recordings of the show, find Straight Talk With Ross wherever you listen to podcasts, and go to the episodes released on June 13th and June 18th. They are episodes 282 (Live From Brooklyn with Miz Cracker & Aja) and episode 283 (Nikki B Bobbin For Big Apples – #2 STWR Live in Brooklyn), and the recap episode is After Glow #4. I come in on the Nikki B Bobbin Episode (283) around minute 14:33. Or for the direct link, you can CLICK HERE .

Thanks for reading!