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Locating the exact date
my applause was "censored"
on THE DICK CAVETT SHOW
was a simple task
because I was a Cavett
audience member
exactly once
Locating the exact date
my applause was "censored"
on THE TONIGHT SHOW
is not a simple task
because I was
an NBC audience member
in Burbank
ITALat least fifty times:
I lived within walking distance
of that studio
at three different addresses
in a span of twenty years
when THE TONIGHT SHOW
was hosted by Johnny Carson
and then Jay Leno
***
HOWEVER,
the exact circumstances
of my second censorship
on national television
have been tattooed
to my skull
It was the Spring of 1994
Jay Leno was interviewing Albert Brooks
a stand-up comedy gig
on Sunset Strip
when he was the opening act
for Leo Sayer
At the mere mention
of that singer's name,
I applauded
but no one else did
Within thirty seconds
of my clappety-clap,
a studio page
approached me
in my end-row seat
and I will quote her verbatim
If you applaud again
I will have you
removed from the studio
That did not happen
but my exact reaction
was similar to
a cartoon character
whose eyes light up with
dollar signs
Within forty hours
after this happened,
I reported her to NBC quality control
and was on the receiving end
of profuse apologies
and
"guest passes for two"
at some future taping
of the Tonight Show
+
a free t-shirt
from the
Burbank NBC gift shop***
Having those guest passes meant
not having to stand in line
for an hour
before admission
to the broadcast studio
A month elapsed before
my very well-dressed girlfriend
and a nattily attired Oliverio
redeemed the guest passes
***
© OLIVERIO ©
To Be Continued
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