FEBRUARY 25TH, “THE NEW SCHOOL”(12th street 6th avenue) NEW YORK CITY
FEBRUARY 25TH, “THE NEW SCHOOL”(12th street 6th avenue) NEW YORK CITY, 11:00PM eastern time:
In a hunt that would make Fred Abberline, Dean Corso, and Ichabod Crane proud. In a mere 3 1/2 hours I pieced together the great mystery of the “Inside The Actors Studio” taping. In this conundrum I managed to meet, and chat(well sort of), with Johnny Depp! My first time or even close since I tried to get on the phone with him on Howard Stern.
Let me preface this by saying the IAS taping was more vague than JD’s Blockbuster acceptance speech and in real life he seems more frail/distracted than a Taco Bell Hard taco value meal. I never actually got into the taping(due to the blatant lack of promotion and the fact it’s totally reserved for NEW SCHOOL film snobs/students) but I tracked down his exit to the awaiting car at the last minute for a very fascinating/terrifying 2 minutes which seemed like 4 hours.
IAS did a masterful job of keeping this taping a major covert secret. Like most of you I couldn’t find out a fricken thing besides that damn FEB 25th date, whatever that meant, and I live in NYC? Were they taping it that day or was it to air that day? Well, they in fact taped it this day(Feb 25th) for what was 7pm to 11pm eastern time(Also where JD ate his meals with Sal Jenco in 1983, 7-11). This I found out virtually through excruciating leg work, LUCK and TODAY at the last minute.
During a 5 mile run I mistakenly read(picked up off the ground out of boredom) the NY post and they printed ambiguous info on the JD taping for IAS it reads “it was the hottest ticket in town you can’t buy seats for”. I thought “we’ll see about that”. While drinking Starbucks at 7:30pm, and just finishing a five mile run, I decide to track it down(I figure NO WAY is there a chance in HELL I’m catching him or it, but I have to try?). I go to IAS spot 1, 44th street and 10th Ave(Manhattan),it’s closed. I go to MAN RAY(15th street and 7th ave), figuring he owns the place lives in France, he has to check in at some point SHIT!! it’s closed too. I go to IAS spot two, Bleeker and Laguardia(Greenwich Village) I find a Jamaican guard playing chess, and I ask him about the taping. He says “Oh movie star taping down there on 12th and 6th avenue.” I sardonically tell the guard he “runs a tight ship”, and move on. Now it’s 10:30 pm and I’ve been walking for 3 hours now. I just say fuck it, lets see if he’s right(but what are my chances?). I trudge up to the spot, low and behold there is a massive production truck and as JD puts it a “gaggle of paparazzi” awaiting but small(12 or so) in comparison because of the subterfuge like efforts to keep it hush hush.