From Legalism to Liberty

A couple of weeks ago I was flipping through the television channels one evening and I happened upon a program that was giving the viewers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how a live taping of a Hollywood television shows takes place. It’s a process that takes about four hours, and they shoot numerous takes of numerous scenes. All the while the studio audience has to laugh hard as if it is the first time they’ve ever heard the lines.

But one of the things I learned about the process is that the hardest working person on the set is not one of the actors or characters. The success of the taping is in the hands of the Warm-up Comic, a standup comic, who for hours must entertain the audience, keeping the crowd alert and laughing. One of the best in the business is a comedian named Ron Pearson.

One of Ron’s talents is balancing things, so during the taping of the show he would balance a glass on his chin, then some time later he would balance a microphone, then sometime later, in between scenes, he would balance a small stool on his chin. But toward the end of the taping, he had the stage crew hand him a 12-foot industrial ladder and, standing right in front of the studio audience, he somehow lifted it, placed it on his chin, balanced it in the air while simultaneously juggling bowling pins. In all of my years of watching entertainers I have never seen such an incredible display of balancing skills.