Post by wheellover65 on Oct 19, 2022 2:24:29 GMT -5
Howdy y'all! Long time no see. Had VIP tickets to see WOF Live this Tuesday in Rochester. You know the drill by now. Clay Aiken hosts, Kalpana Pot pretends to touch the screen, Dave Styles says the words.
Once again no audition puzzle. Registration opened at around 4:30 and the lobby for VIPs opening with it. Registration was handled right in the box office area thanks to the venue being an old Kodak office building. Yellow wristband for me this time, not by request but by luck. I accidentally locked the specially designed iPad used for VIP registration/check-in which caused a little kerfuffle, but it was all sorted and I registered without issue. Did get to see what the internal software looked like because the person in charge of registration came to my side of the table and had me push **all** the buttons. Was an interesting thing to get to do. Merch store was open, this time with the Wheel of Fortune socks in stock, so I bought a pair as I've been eyeing them up since at least the beginning of the month.
Since I arrived at the venue super stupid early, I was chilling in the lobby for a while, and then the lounge for a while. At around 5:25 an usher came over and said "hey guys come with me to spin the wheel" in the most monotone "I don't want to be here right now" voice. I was a little disappointed they weren't super hype, but after almost 30 shows on the road, I could see burnout hypothetically starting to set in. The crowds had gathered and I ended up in the middle of the line with my group. The same generic hype playlist was playing, in the exact same order as before. We were just about to go on stage when suddenly an older lady tripped on some cables behind the wheel. She was thankfully okay, but props to the music guy for immediately fading out whatever song was playing and jumping right into Dua Lipa's Levitating. That was a rather funny coincidence.
After our spins and photos, we went back to the lobby and chilled for a little while. The doors were supposed to open at 6:30 but didn't open until closer to 6:50. We all had front or second row seats so we got great views of everything. There was a dead cockroach on one of our seats so minus points for that, Kodak Center. Same generic hype music playlist playing, just looped around. 7:30 rolls around and there's no start in sight. At 7:35 I notice Dave shuffling about and a producer with a big sheet of printed out nametags. I will admit I looked as best as I can at the sheet to see if I saw a name. Looking closely I could tellthere were too many letters for it to say CLAY AIKEN my name wasn't on at least the first three, but I still hoped for an audience prize or something. At 7:40 the montage of clips starts and Dave comes out to do his warmup.
This is where the format differs from the last time I saw the show. The audition toss-ups are gone. Only 3 names were called up to play the game, and were escorted directly to the wheel to play. Dave finishes up his warmup, the whole audience shouts WHEEL! OF! FORTUNE! and away we go.
Once again: I was politely asked by the production staff of the show to not share puzzles or archive them in any way as they might reuse them in the future. I totally understand this request and will be complying with it. I mean it. No puzzles will be spoiled in this report, partially or fully revealed. Please do not ask for them.
Dave introduces Kalpana and Clay, who talk center stage for a few minutes before Clay heads over to the wheel and we jump into the first toss-up. I immediately get it because it's a repeat from one used in Bethlehem. It takes the contestants a little bit longer to get it, but one of them does get it and Clay chats with the contestants for a little while. One of the contestant's names is misspelled on her nametag. Her name appeared as SANDRA on the screen (and I'm guessing that's her actual name) yet Clay points out her nametag says "SADNRA" much to the chagrin of the producer sitting directly in front of him. After some more chatting we jump into R1 of Game 1, which I immediately no-letter... because it was used in Bethlehem. At this point the rest of my group is rather impressed that I've known the puzzles, and I begin to wonder if they'll all be repeats I recognize, hoping that if I do get picked, they would be. Sadly (or maybe for the better) R2 is a puzzle I've never seen before and my dreams of winning millions of dollars on Wheel of Fortune Live! are quickly dashed. The game goes rather quickly as the contestants are really really good solving rather quickly. I hope my whispering to my friends wasn't audible enough to assist them.
After game one, Dave announces three more names to play and then comes down to the left side of the audience picking people to play Puzzlers, they'll reveal most of the puzzle and you'll get 10 seconds to solve it for a T-Shirt, Mug, and a Magnet. If you can't solve it in the 10 seconds they'll add some more letters and give you another 10 seconds. Dave does four or five of these before rushing back to his podium (in reality a music stand and a pen light, the glamor of show-biz...) as Game Two begins.
Not much to say about game two. Players were really good, Clay fumbled around the explanation of the Wild Card, but Mark did the same thing so no fault there. The yellow player solves almost every puzzle, and picks up the Wild Card with him to take to the Championship Match. Trip to New Orleans was landed on a few times, and claimed (and won) by the blue player in the one puzzle not solved by yellow. Final Spin landed on Dinner and a Movie, which was not awarded to the contestant, but just counted as 500.
This is where my report will get a little fuzzy. Dave calls up three more names, one of them being a ten-year-old. How do I know this? The mother brings down her kid to Dave directly, who was standing almost directly next to me and says "She's ten, she can't play." to which Dave says "Go talk with those guys over there" pointing at production. Dave then turns to me in my Wheel of Fortune hat and fanny pack (I left the shirt at home) and has me play a puzzler. I stand up and almost immediately black out. I feel all the blood in my body rush out of my head and get a little woozy. I keep my composure (or at least as best as I can) and try to speak to Dave. The most I get out are some really loud WOOOs and my name. Dave throws the puzzle up on the board, and I easily get it, even while running on autopilot. I get a prize pack and Dave moves on to the woman seated directly behind me. A Proper Name puzzle comes up which was rather obvious to me and the rest of my group, but not to her. One of my friends says the puzzle in a not so hushed whisper, the woman wins the prize pack, and my friend gets a big slap on the head from Dave. I genuinely cannot tell you what happened after that. I was shaking super hard and could not focus on anything other than the T-Shirt and Mug in my hands. I think they did a few more audience games or something. People won, people lost. You decide what happened here.
Dave calls up an alternate name because as mentioned before, one of the contestants selected was ten years old. There's an option to register and clearly state that you're under 18 and should not be called. Plus there's also the option to NOT REGISTER if you don't want to. It's no fault of the show that those parents either didn't listen or didn't care and registered their obviously ineligible child to play. But I digress. Game 3 starts. There's some puzzles. There's some prizes. The wheel spins. Someone wins. I think Dinner and a Movie was won in here? (It's Dinner... ...and a movie!) Yay intermission time!
I head out to the bathrooms during intermission and end up getting congratulated by a few people, and I end up congratulating a few on-stage contestants. There's a sense of family between the audience members, everyone wishing everyone else to do really well and win. I appreciate that immensely. One of the few places where everyone is a winner and even if you don't win big, you still had fun. Dave starts back up as we go into the wedge game. Red, Yellow, or Blue wedges, 12 numbered wedges, 4 of each color, first to 4 wins. Yellow wins (as it should) and I get a 5th keychain. (I got two from Bethlehem, one was in my VIP bag, and one in the prize pack.)
Friday Finals begins with all of the four-digit values on the wheel. Two trips and one Mystery wedge also fill out some of the gaps. I'm a little sad about their only being one Mystery wedge since production could very easily rig it, but the odds of it being won are small anyway so I won't complain too much. A super "what the fudgesicle was that" toss-up starts us off, and a Crossword Puzzle shows up in round one. Once again I will say kudos to the staff of WOF Live for keeping the XWords in the championship matches only. I won't mention anything about ANDs since the last time I did so it happened during the literal next show. Yellow player had his Wild Card from before, but Bankrupted. It was not taken away from him since I think Clay forgot, but he didn't win so it didn't affect anything.
Bonus Round happened. Contestant picked Occupation. The whole audience had it after the contestant's letters, but sadly she didn't. The 10 seconds went by and she couldn't spit it out. The letters didn't come up right away and she got it about maybe 10 seconds after the buzzer, but it was too late. The letters popped into place and she didn't win $2,000.
That ended our night's showing of Wheel of Fortune Live! Clay was not in the audience taking pictures with fans like Mark was, but it was still a super enjoyable show. Apologies for being super light on the second half the report, I really could not focus on anything. Something about actually playing for a prize, even as stupid as a t-shirt, really changes things. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer as much as I can. Just not puzzles since they are reusing those and I can attest to that fact personally.
Once again no audition puzzle. Registration opened at around 4:30 and the lobby for VIPs opening with it. Registration was handled right in the box office area thanks to the venue being an old Kodak office building. Yellow wristband for me this time, not by request but by luck. I accidentally locked the specially designed iPad used for VIP registration/check-in which caused a little kerfuffle, but it was all sorted and I registered without issue. Did get to see what the internal software looked like because the person in charge of registration came to my side of the table and had me push **all** the buttons. Was an interesting thing to get to do. Merch store was open, this time with the Wheel of Fortune socks in stock, so I bought a pair as I've been eyeing them up since at least the beginning of the month.
Since I arrived at the venue super stupid early, I was chilling in the lobby for a while, and then the lounge for a while. At around 5:25 an usher came over and said "hey guys come with me to spin the wheel" in the most monotone "I don't want to be here right now" voice. I was a little disappointed they weren't super hype, but after almost 30 shows on the road, I could see burnout hypothetically starting to set in. The crowds had gathered and I ended up in the middle of the line with my group. The same generic hype playlist was playing, in the exact same order as before. We were just about to go on stage when suddenly an older lady tripped on some cables behind the wheel. She was thankfully okay, but props to the music guy for immediately fading out whatever song was playing and jumping right into Dua Lipa's Levitating. That was a rather funny coincidence.
After our spins and photos, we went back to the lobby and chilled for a little while. The doors were supposed to open at 6:30 but didn't open until closer to 6:50. We all had front or second row seats so we got great views of everything. There was a dead cockroach on one of our seats so minus points for that, Kodak Center. Same generic hype music playlist playing, just looped around. 7:30 rolls around and there's no start in sight. At 7:35 I notice Dave shuffling about and a producer with a big sheet of printed out nametags. I will admit I looked as best as I can at the sheet to see if I saw a name. Looking closely I could tell
This is where the format differs from the last time I saw the show. The audition toss-ups are gone. Only 3 names were called up to play the game, and were escorted directly to the wheel to play. Dave finishes up his warmup, the whole audience shouts WHEEL! OF! FORTUNE! and away we go.
Once again: I was politely asked by the production staff of the show to not share puzzles or archive them in any way as they might reuse them in the future. I totally understand this request and will be complying with it. I mean it. No puzzles will be spoiled in this report, partially or fully revealed. Please do not ask for them.
Dave introduces Kalpana and Clay, who talk center stage for a few minutes before Clay heads over to the wheel and we jump into the first toss-up. I immediately get it because it's a repeat from one used in Bethlehem. It takes the contestants a little bit longer to get it, but one of them does get it and Clay chats with the contestants for a little while. One of the contestant's names is misspelled on her nametag. Her name appeared as SANDRA on the screen (and I'm guessing that's her actual name) yet Clay points out her nametag says "SADNRA" much to the chagrin of the producer sitting directly in front of him. After some more chatting we jump into R1 of Game 1, which I immediately no-letter... because it was used in Bethlehem. At this point the rest of my group is rather impressed that I've known the puzzles, and I begin to wonder if they'll all be repeats I recognize, hoping that if I do get picked, they would be. Sadly (or maybe for the better) R2 is a puzzle I've never seen before and my dreams of winning millions of dollars on Wheel of Fortune Live! are quickly dashed. The game goes rather quickly as the contestants are really really good solving rather quickly. I hope my whispering to my friends wasn't audible enough to assist them.
After game one, Dave announces three more names to play and then comes down to the left side of the audience picking people to play Puzzlers, they'll reveal most of the puzzle and you'll get 10 seconds to solve it for a T-Shirt, Mug, and a Magnet. If you can't solve it in the 10 seconds they'll add some more letters and give you another 10 seconds. Dave does four or five of these before rushing back to his podium (in reality a music stand and a pen light, the glamor of show-biz...) as Game Two begins.
Not much to say about game two. Players were really good, Clay fumbled around the explanation of the Wild Card, but Mark did the same thing so no fault there. The yellow player solves almost every puzzle, and picks up the Wild Card with him to take to the Championship Match. Trip to New Orleans was landed on a few times, and claimed (and won) by the blue player in the one puzzle not solved by yellow. Final Spin landed on Dinner and a Movie, which was not awarded to the contestant, but just counted as 500.
This is where my report will get a little fuzzy. Dave calls up three more names, one of them being a ten-year-old. How do I know this? The mother brings down her kid to Dave directly, who was standing almost directly next to me and says "She's ten, she can't play." to which Dave says "Go talk with those guys over there" pointing at production. Dave then turns to me in my Wheel of Fortune hat and fanny pack (I left the shirt at home) and has me play a puzzler. I stand up and almost immediately black out. I feel all the blood in my body rush out of my head and get a little woozy. I keep my composure (or at least as best as I can) and try to speak to Dave. The most I get out are some really loud WOOOs and my name. Dave throws the puzzle up on the board, and I easily get it, even while running on autopilot. I get a prize pack and Dave moves on to the woman seated directly behind me. A Proper Name puzzle comes up which was rather obvious to me and the rest of my group, but not to her. One of my friends says the puzzle in a not so hushed whisper, the woman wins the prize pack, and my friend gets a big slap on the head from Dave. I genuinely cannot tell you what happened after that. I was shaking super hard and could not focus on anything other than the T-Shirt and Mug in my hands. I think they did a few more audience games or something. People won, people lost. You decide what happened here.
Dave calls up an alternate name because as mentioned before, one of the contestants selected was ten years old. There's an option to register and clearly state that you're under 18 and should not be called. Plus there's also the option to NOT REGISTER if you don't want to. It's no fault of the show that those parents either didn't listen or didn't care and registered their obviously ineligible child to play. But I digress. Game 3 starts. There's some puzzles. There's some prizes. The wheel spins. Someone wins. I think Dinner and a Movie was won in here? (It's Dinner... ...and a movie!) Yay intermission time!
I head out to the bathrooms during intermission and end up getting congratulated by a few people, and I end up congratulating a few on-stage contestants. There's a sense of family between the audience members, everyone wishing everyone else to do really well and win. I appreciate that immensely. One of the few places where everyone is a winner and even if you don't win big, you still had fun. Dave starts back up as we go into the wedge game. Red, Yellow, or Blue wedges, 12 numbered wedges, 4 of each color, first to 4 wins. Yellow wins (as it should) and I get a 5th keychain. (I got two from Bethlehem, one was in my VIP bag, and one in the prize pack.)
Friday Finals begins with all of the four-digit values on the wheel. Two trips and one Mystery wedge also fill out some of the gaps. I'm a little sad about their only being one Mystery wedge since production could very easily rig it, but the odds of it being won are small anyway so I won't complain too much. A super "what the fudgesicle was that" toss-up starts us off, and a Crossword Puzzle shows up in round one. Once again I will say kudos to the staff of WOF Live for keeping the XWords in the championship matches only. I won't mention anything about ANDs since the last time I did so it happened during the literal next show. Yellow player had his Wild Card from before, but Bankrupted. It was not taken away from him since I think Clay forgot, but he didn't win so it didn't affect anything.
Bonus Round happened. Contestant picked Occupation. The whole audience had it after the contestant's letters, but sadly she didn't. The 10 seconds went by and she couldn't spit it out. The letters didn't come up right away and she got it about maybe 10 seconds after the buzzer, but it was too late. The letters popped into place and she didn't win $2,000.
That ended our night's showing of Wheel of Fortune Live! Clay was not in the audience taking pictures with fans like Mark was, but it was still a super enjoyable show. Apologies for being super light on the second half the report, I really could not focus on anything. Something about actually playing for a prize, even as stupid as a t-shirt, really changes things. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer as much as I can. Just not puzzles since they are reusing those and I can attest to that fact personally.
:eek: Z