The Amazing Casting Call!

So, Friday morning Ashley and I set out to audition for the Race. I'm going to present what happened in 2 ways...summary and details.

In summary, it was an incredible exciting experience. Ashley is the true professional and coached me out of my fears into being comfortable and natural. We stepped infront of a camera with our time allotment of 1.5 minutes and, like the other 300 teams, answered one simple question, "Why do you think you should be on The Amazing Race?". When we were done, the next team was immediately shuffled in. There was no judging panel...only 1.5 minutes to knock the ball out of the park on film. Like the other teams, we have no idea if we made it, which makes sense. The Race team must review all the teams and reduce the field, etc. We do, however, know that there are additional "try-outs/interviews" if we're selected and that filming for Season 15 is set to begin this summer, which seems like a small window of time. We basically will know we've made it to the next round if or when someone contacts us.

Now the details...you just can't imagine! This is everything that happened.

You all know me as being pretty rigid when it comes to planning and preparing. Keep this in mind as you read on. My Friday morning started at about 2:45am, but the plan was for 3:30am, something about nervous anxiety. Since the casting call location was about a 1 hour drive, we planned to leave at 4:00am. We actually left around 4:20, so we were close! We arrived at the Harrah's Casino at 5:20 to find a line of people already there. Some looked like they had slept in their spots over-night...hmmm, must be serious auditioners! I did a quick head-count estimation and guessed that we would be somewhere around team #35 or so. While standing in line and listening/chatting, watching a few drunks (hoping they wouldn't barf), with other contestants someone mentioned "passport". Upon hearing this, I was instantly panic stricken. I immediately turned to Ashley and said, "Holy s##t, I forgot my passport!". Proof of valid passport or passport in process were application requirements. I'm of course instantly thinking that I've ruined our only opportunity and began with my typical mental thrashing, no excuses, beat myself up for being so careless, reasoning. I also began thinking of my different options...being resourceful is good. I checked with the casino staff and surprise, there is no such thing as a business office in a casino. I head out the door and begin the drive back home...again thinking of options. Ashley is left holding our spot in line. I'm maybe 10 minutes from the casino when Ashley calls to tell me that she couldn't get our audition number because I was not there and that we were being moved out of line. I cannot put into words how terrible I felt. I called my wife, it's now about 6:00am, and asked her if there was any way she could meet me half way and deliver my passport. After speaking with my wife, Ashley called again and told me to turn around and that we didn't need my passport to get the audition number, but would need it at the time of the audition. So, now I'm heading back to the casino with no passport and only one solid way, albeit very time consuming if needed, to get it. In the interim, I left voice messages for 2 people who are closely tied to the project I'm currently working on, since I had furnished a copy of my passport when the project began. Are you beginning to see the similarities to a real life Amazing Race? I get back to the casino and Ashley is first in line with a group of others who are in similar situations. We get our audition ticket number...86! Not bad considering! We start talking about options and I tell her I've left voicemails. We decided to check with the casino hotel to see if internet or fax access is available. Sure enough there is fax service and we're told there is a small printing company just down the street with fax and internet. If you don't carry a cell phone with internet access, here's another reason to do so. I was able to locate an email with my passport attached and now I only needed a place to print it, which was right down the street and opening soon. Feeling much better now, my phone rings and at the other end was Jennifer Smith (Aetea Information Technology) saying that she heard my voicemail and had my passport ready to fax. Talk about saving the day! I had what I needed within moments and was greatly relieved and thankful. We now had a couple of hours to kill until our audition number along with 49 others would be called.

Being the "ever planner" I start asking Ashley if maybe we should talk about what we wanted to say during the audition. "No, I'd rather not do that because what I'm going to say is going to floor you and I think it would be better to have you show your real reaction", she tells me. Hmmm...now I'm not only nervous because I don't have a plan but I'm also worried that she's considering me a terrible father! And then she adds, "Be careful what you ask for...". That was enough for me...I decided to wait and listen to my daughter the coach and somehow I completely put it out of my mind.

The next few hours were filled with laughs, phone calls from relatives, the casino breakfast buffet, and sizing up the competition, which my coach rated as "soft". We eavesdropped on a few teams to hear their stories and between the two of us did quite a bit of rolling our eyes. Our ticket (86) was called with 49 others around 10:15am and we were then herded into the "event center" where we would eventually be divided into "A" and "B" groups. While we were gradually winding our way through the queue, The Amazing Race host, Phil Koeghan, walked into the event center, as the area errupted to screams, whistles, cheers, and clapping. It was truly amazing. He grabs a microphone and is standing one arm's length from Ashley and I! I snapped a few photos of him (one is posted) as he spoke to us. Here's where this really gets interesting or maybe it's just fate or divine intervention...Phil Koeghan hushed the crowd and described his current adventure. He's riding his bike from California to New York to raise money for MS. That's right! Phil spent the next few minutes talking about the importance of charity and giving back. As you well know, this is exactly what Ashley and I are doing! Let's just say that we could hardly contain ourselves! It was like Phil Koeghan was actually promoting what we're going to do.

We were given our true audition number, B44, and told to wait in a conference room with an ambient temperature of 47 degrees. And wait we did, along with shivering, and wondering what to expect when our number was finally called.

The moment of truth came at around 11:15am. Team B44 was moved into a sequestered room. While there, we listened to an "A" team make their pitch. The dude was doing all the talking and then suddenly stopped. It seemed like a problem to me and I looked to Ashley and she said silence kills. I immediately understood.

About 1 minute later we were moved to the "B" team audition room and found 2 women and professional video equipment. We were mic'd up, set into position, and told we had a minute and a half to answer one question, "Why do you think you should be on The Amazing Race?". I have to tell you that I am the most fortunate of contestants because of what happened next. Ashley went into professional overdrive and delivered the most incredible reason for being on the Race. She basically said that even though I'm her father she never really understood how controlling I am until we starting working on the Race...all the texts, emails, phone calls, conversations, etc. And, as she predicted, I was floored, I was shocked. She went on with this focus and tied in the "forgotten passport" to boot! And, just as if she were telling me this over coffee, I'm looking into the camera and actually couldn't stop myself from saying, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you just said that!". I went on further, "Well, now that that's been brought to light, being on the Race will help me to learn to allow Ashley to be more on the same level as me and I now realize that I've been an overbearing father...". There was much more and as I slowed Ashley jumped in and talked of our other reason for wanting to do the Race...the opportunity for charity. She tied our charity decision directly to Phil's ride for charity. Truly a perfect transition and relation. She mentioned this blog without stuttering or pausing, mentioned Facebook, and I threw in a few numbers, and we were done.

I can say, without a doubt, that two very positive signs occured during our filming: first, we were given more than the alloted 1.5 minutes. I know this because the 3 minute video that we produced with the application contained 1 minute and 23 seconds of charity dialog (essentially the same details) alone...now add in the other parts. Secondly, I glanced briefly at the Race crew during our audition and both were focused in and smiling at us. I believe that if we had wanted to continue talking they would have allowed us...they waited for us to stop before coming over to us and removing the mics. We left high-fiving and excited because we really felt we had hit the ball out of the park. Everything seemed to go perfectly even though the planner was not in control! We couldn't come up with anything that went wrong during the filming and could only come up with how right things were, like Phil's charity, the passport, Ashley's jaw-dropping reason and my natural reaction.

That's it and this is where this Race story ends, at least for now, but hopefully not permanently. All in all, this was a ton of fun and a great experience. I am truly the luckiest father to have such a daughter. Ashley coached me and never doubted me either. Simply put...she's just perfect! The time together will always be a great memory.

If you'd like to see Ashley's latest musical performance, she has a role in "Sunday in the Park With George", which is playing at the Prairie Lakes Theater, Des Plaines, IL, weekends through May 17th.

Lastly, thank you for supporting Ashley and I. It has filled our hearts with joy. We will definitely update this blog if/when we hear from the Race.

--Mark & Ashley