Last Updated on: 10th December 2022, 05:40 am

How To Get Tickets And Be Part Of The Studio Audience At Your Favourite US TV Shows

Getting tickets for Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show With Trevor Noah is easier than you think and it is free!

To be in the studio audience and get tickets for Stephen Colbert you do need to register in advance; you can’t just show up on the day and hope to be part of the audience.  We really wanted to see The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah when we visited New York in November; however, the tickets for both of these shows are scooped up really quickly.

We needed to be organised. The tickets are typically released online about four to six weeks in advance, but as we would be spending 11 days in New York, we put our names down for several dates, and hoped for the best! We got lucky.

So here’s our step by step guide to getting tickets for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

How To Get Tickets for Stephen Colbert

To get Stephen Colbert tickets, first, you need to sign up with www.1iota.com. Don’t worry, it’s free. As well as tickets for Stephen Colbert, you can also apply on 1iota for tickets to many other shows in New York, such as Seth Myers, and various other shows in the US. We started looking about six months before our trip.

Once you have registered, and the show dates have been released, you can request your free Late Show tickets. Once requested, you will be placed on a waitlist. We waitlisted ourselves for three different days to improve our chances of getting tickets.

Closer to the date, if you are lucky, you will receive an email offering you a priority or a general spot. Or if you are unlucky, an email saying try again another time. If you are one of the lucky ones, you will then need to confirm your spot through 1iota.com. Tickets are released in batches, and if you don’t confirm your interest, your place will be passed on to someone else.

See also:

• Cost to Live in New York City
• Walking Across the Brooklyn Bridge
• New York City Food Tour

We were offered priority tickets for Stephen Colbert, but even with these tickets, you are still not guaranteed entry, but obviously a much higher chance than those with general admission tickets. We were advised to check-in at 3 pm.

We arrived at the Ed Sullivan Theatre on Broadway at 3:01 pm and already there was a long queue in front of us. We showed our tickets to the staff, they placed a paper admission bracelet on our wrists, and we joined the long line. But we were now officially guaranteed a place in the studio audience, so we didn’t mind waiting, it was just exciting to be there.

Note: everyone in your party has to check-in at the same time, so you can’t send someone ahead early to hold your place. The staff was really strict about this.

So What’s It Like Having Tickets for Stephen Colbert and Being in the Studio Audience?

At around 5 pm, we were in our seats. We had had to queue for a while but fortunately for us priority ticket holders, most of that was inside in the warmth watching video skits of Stephen Colbert.

The studio held more people than we expected, but we had good seats. Before the show started, a warm-up guy came on so we could practice our cheering, laughing out loud and chanting, “Stephen! Stephen!”

Then Jon Batiste and the house band came on, followed by a quick question and answer session with Stephen Colbert before he ran offstage so he could run onstage again to start the show.

Jonathan and I were really excited when we heard that Ricky Gervais was announced as the Late Show’s first guest, but alas, his interview had been prerecorded on another night. Ah, so that explains why Stephen Colbert kept changing ties in between guests – to ensure continuity on the show when it airs!

So the night, we were there, Stephen interviewed three guests, but only one actually appeared that night on the TV show. How did we know that? Well, we had to run home after the filming to our house sit in the Bronx and watch the show when it aired that night, didn’t we? Unfortunately or maybe that should be, fortunately, we couldn’t spot ourselves in the audience.

So Who Were The Guests When We Were There?

The first guest was Timothee Chalamet, an American actor talking about his new movie Beautiful Boy.

The second guest was Bianna Golodryga, a co-host on CBS This Morning and finally, Connie Britton on to talk about “Dirty John.”

As I don’t watch that much TV, I didn’t really know who any of the guests were, but surprisingly I had heard of the movie Beautiful Boy.

Only Bianna Golodryga appeared on TV that night when the show aired.

What You Need To Know Before Attending The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

There’s a limit of two tickets per reservation.

You must be at least 16 years old and show proof of ID.

You will have to go through a security screening before being allowed entry into the studio.

Food and drink are not allowed in the studio.

You cannot take photos inside the studio.

The show taping can be up to two hours and once inside the studio, you are not allowed to leave until filming is finished. Don’t worry, everyone gets the opportunity to use the bathroom before the show starts!

Dress code is described as something you won’t mind your mum seeing you wear on TV. Bear in mind, the studio is quite chilly so bring a jacket!

How To Get To The Ed Sullivan Theater To See Stephen Colbert

Map to the Ed Sullivan Theatre

You have your tickets for Stephen Colbert, but how do you get to the Ed Sullivan Theatre? The theatre is located at 1697 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th streets not far from Times Square.

The nearest subways are at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. But if you download the MyTransit NYC Subway, Bus, Rail app, that will tell you the best way to get where you need to go.

How To Get Daily Show Tickets and See Trevor Noah

Tickets for The Daily Show are also available through 1iota. Trevor Noah is no longer be hosting the show. His last show was 8 December, 2022.

So What’s It Like Being Part Of The Studio Audience For The Daily Show With Trevor Noah

The studio was not as large as the Ed Sullivan theatre, but before they started filming, you were allowed to take photos.

Once we were inside, we forgot how cold we had been and were really looking forward to the show. Despite the bad weather, the studio was completely full.

Just before the show started a warm-up guy came on to encourage us to laugh, applause, cheer loudly and generally be a fabulous studio audience.

The show was a lot of fun to watch and Trevor Noah was very apologetic and proud of us for waiting ages in sub-zero temperature. The guest for the evening was Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York senator. Jonathan says she is cynically political and opportunistic, but me being British had no idea who she was. I was just excited to be there.

What You Need To Know Before Attending The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

You must make a reservation in advance.

You must be at least 18 years of age.

You can be in groups of up to four people.

You have to pass through security and any large bags will be taken from you and handed back after the show.

You can take photos before filming starts, but not during the show.\

You can’t leave the studio until filming has finished.

How To Get To The Daily Show Studio

Map For The Daily Show With Trevor Noah

The Daily Show studio is located in Hell’s Kitchen at 733 Eleventh Avenue located between 51st and 52nd Streets. The nearest subway station to the studio is the C/E at 50th/8th Avenue.

Would We Recommend Being Part Of A Studio Audience?

Totally. It was a great experience, both to see the show and to see how the show is made.

Have you ever been part of a studio audience? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

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