In For A Penny, In For A Pound

Yesterday I spent the day in the audience at Millionaire Hot Seat. A friend of mine had applied to be on it and was successful. It took a little while but he got the phone call and it was his chance to win A MILLION DOLLARS!!!! (Sorry, I went a bit Eddie there for a second). As part of the deal, my friend could invite people to be in the audience – how could I resist.

Now I have signed my life away so I can’t tell you any detail, except to say that my friend won some money but that is all you will get from me! I can talk in general terms about the process as I have been in the audience of other shows. Now anyone who has been to a taping of a game show can tell you that they record several episodes in a row. You probably expect this. It gives them economies of scale. The get a set put together, get the celebrities in, get all the crew together – so it makes sense to shoot several episodes all at once. Some even shoot a couple of days in a row.

There is a person who is the Audience Fire-Upper. I am not sure of the technical term (I think it’s Warm Up Guy), but it is their job to let us know what is expected of the audience, what is going on during the recording, when to clap, when to cheer, when to cheer louder and to entertain us at other times.  Michael Pope is who we saw yesterday and he has been a Channel stalwart for many years. Another is Brian Nankervis (of RocKwiz fame).

It’s the warm up persons job to get us enthusiastic and keep us enthusiastic for the entirety of the show. In fact the entirety of the five shows that they are recording on any given day.  As you would imagine, everyone is excited for the first show so its all good. The second show, people start to lag a little. When it gets to the third show, people have the “I’m an expert and I know this stuff. Why am I reacting like a monkey to a trainer?”

Now naturally energies lag but my question is this, if you are not willing to perform your part of the role, why are you there? As the old saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound. This is not just of TV audiences, this is for work, relationships, community groups, professional associations, school, and even your hobbies.  As Yoda said, “Do or Do Not, there is no try.”


So what in your life are you merely involved in? Where do you need to shift from being involved to being committed? Applauding and cheering loudly halfway through the fifth episode of a taping is one thing, but what about the areas of life that are of far more significance to you?

Do or Do Not, there is not Try!