For the last three months, four days a week, 10 plus hours a day, hand cramps from signing non-disclosure forms, NBC’s America’s Got Talent has kept me very, very busy.

The production takes place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ, and is produced by Marathon Productions.  In previous seasons, the show was shot on the west coast, but because new panel judge Howard Stern’s Sirius Radio show is east coast based, production was moved to accommodate him.

One thing about this gig was that I was working with amateur music acts, something very foreign to me. They were all very talented, but not the caliber of music acts and entertainers I was accustomed to. I’ve worked tons of concert venues, music shows for MTV, FUSE, SNL, too many to count, but never an amateur competition of this caliber.

Many of them were not familiar with the process of being miced up, sound checks or wearing monitor ear-pieces. Once the weeks progressed they got the hang of things, but I’ll have to admit that it was certainly a breath of fresh air working with performers who were chasing their dreams.

Now that my stint with America’s Got Talent is over, it’s back to Saturday Night Live for another season. Check in for more updates, and find out what’s happening over at 30 Rock. 

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