My Experience at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

On November 15, 2018, my life changed forever.

Okay, it wasn't that serious, but it was a pretty great day.

Last month, I was lucky enough to snag two tickets to the taping of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Since then, my friend Paige and I were counting down the days until we got to see Jimmy.

Just a little bit about myself, I am a television major studying at Hofstra University on Long Island. The Tonight Show is my favorite late night show and I have been wanted to see Jimmy Fallon for years. And I finally got my chance. Yay!

So on the day of the show, Paige and I headed over to the LIRR to get to Penn Station. It started to snow while we waited for our train, which was obviously a sign that we were going to have an amazing night (spoiler alert: we did!).

Once we got to Penn, we immediately hopped on a subway to 30 Rockefeller Plaza (or 30 Rock as the New Yorkers call it). We entered at the 50th street entrance and got in line with our tickets ready. All of the NBC pages were super nice and answered all of our questions. I wanted to ask them a million questions about the page program as someone who will be applying for it after I graduate, but I figured today I'll focus on Jimmy.

Once we handed the page our tickets, we went through security and were seated in a beautiful lounge. At this point, photography was forbidden, which is why this article is lacking pictures (sorry!). We waited comfortably in the lounge and marveled at all the adorable photographs of the many guests that have been on the show.

Paige and I were seated in the front row near where the producers sit and watch the show. We were also near the door where "The Roots" come in and the talent leave, so as we were waiting we got a peak at the band getting ready.

When the show finally started, it was absolutely incredible. Jimmy was amazing (and just as handsome in person as he is on television). Paige got a fist bump from Questlove, I got some hellos from band members and the announcer, Steve Higgins, and then the greatest moment of my life happened.

Steve Carrell was on the show discussing his new movie Welcome to Marwen (in theaters December 21). When he left, he walked right by me and when I called out his name and waved...

HE SMILED AND WAVED BACK AT ME!

I almost lost my mind. My entire life had been made at that moment.

After the show, Paige and I still gushing about everything that happened, we walked outside to discover that there was a full-on snow storm happening. The walk back to the subway station was not fun, but it didn't matter because nothing could ruin our night at that point.

As a television major who dreams of someday working on The Tonight Show, it was so cool to see all the moving parts of the production. In all, I enjoyed every second of the experience and can't wait to see more tapings of late night shows.

We love you, Jimmy!