A Fortune-ate Haiku
Wheel of good Fortune,
I’m who you need on your show.
Help the Bucket List.
Yesterday, I drove to a local hotel in Louisville to try out for Round TWO of my auditions for WHEEL OF FORTUNE!!!! There were signs requesting no photography, and though some people chose to break the rules, I tow the line when it comes to making my bucket list dreams come true. So, sadly this post will be minus the pictures. Here’s the day in 10 easy steps.
1. I stopped at my least favorite drugstore (And keeping in the Wheel of Fortune spirit: C□S) to purchase ‘prescription’ strength deodorant and a brush.
1. I got in place early, with enough time time worry about every possible scenario of the next few hours. What if I went into labor? Will I have to name my baby ‘Lucky’? What if forget the alphabet? What if I have to pee? I waited for the doors to open. About 10 minutes prior to the audition, the doors opened and we filed into the room. We were directed to our chairs and I was issued the chair, front and center.
2. We received paperwork to fill out – you know, the typical…name, job, hobbies, interests, unique facts about you, etc. I signed up as interested for a few “special weeks” including sweetheart’s, pet lover’s, and family week…
3. We spent the remaining 3 hours clapping and smiling. Seriously, if you’re allergic to clapping, these auditions are not for you! And I think I smiled more at these auditions than I did for my wedding photos. The audition was divided into 2 rounds–and every person (approx 100) was given a chance to guess. They were primarily looking to see if your voice was clear and if you guessed logical letters.
4. We spent 5 minutes on a wheel of fortune test. There were 4 different categories on my test: Things, Same Last Name, Rhyme Time, and Show Biz. I felt like I was back in middle school working on a math test, except this test was in another language. Hard stuff.
5. We were issued a 20 minute break. I sped my pregnant belly down to the lobby restroom and lamented about the size of the sweat rings on my shirt and tried to devise ways to hide them. I considered running to the car to change shirts, but surmised that going from royal blue to bright red may be a little obvious. Note to self: write store-brand “prescription strength” deodorant company–product fail. I spent the rest of the time making sure I wasn’t ‘SURE’.
6. Returned to the tryout room to learn of my fate. Drum roll, please! I made the cut down to about 25!
7. We were then called up in groups of 5 or 6 to mimic a real game show, and even were asked to pretend to spin the wheel. One thing they specifically wanted was for you to call out JUST the letter with no extra verbiage…i.e. “R” was good, but “I’d like an R, please” was not. I failed that a couple of times…perhaps, I’m too polite? Or just a goof. We were individually given time to share a little about ourselves-I talked about being a mom to 2 boys as well as to my geriatric dog and mentioned my love for games and my bucket list game show wish.
8. There was another time of brief collaboration by the casting team, and 5 remaining individuals were called back up (I was not). I couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or not, as the people who were called back up seemed to have quieter personalities/voices/demeanor.
9. We were dismissed and told that if we made the final cut, we’d receive a letter in the mail in the next couple weeks.
10. I replayed all the “canna-coulda-woulda’s” in my head all day. Then, feared the rest of the night that Zippy will die before I get called for ‘Pet Lover’s Week.’
And want to know the craziest part of this story? Last night, I was called about another game show I auditioned for in August of last year. Weird…I wonder if their databases are synced somehow? I’d applied for Minute-to-Win-It in August of last year (Bucket Lists know no prejudices, you know). It’s for a new game show that is airing and I guess they got my audition from the Minute-to-Win-It people? How crazy is that! Don’t know what will come of it–but I figure if I don’t keep trying to knock out this bucket list, I’ll have to live forever! And if I do knock out my bucket list early, I’ll have to add more to my list to avoid dying prematurely. ha!
And the following can be disregarded by all reading who aren’t interested in auditioning…This is for people, like me, who google to find information after they get called up at a Wheelmobile Event. After my first audition, I was DYING to have an answer to this question: How long after the first wheel of fortune audition did I receive a response? I had convinced myself I’d never get ‘the’ email, and googled this question for longer than I care to admit. I even emailed strangers to find out this answer–so here it is for any googlers out there. I originally auditioned at the Wheelmobile event on May 13, 2012. I received an email inviting me to the second round of auditions on June 12th. And the second round of auditions was for two weeks later, June 27th.
And if you’ve stayed with me this long…the moral of this story? Say ‘no’ to generic deodorant.
Until my luck becomes lucky,
Maren
