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Wheel of Fortune Audition

In July, I wrote about attending the Sacramento State Fair, where Wheel of Fortune held auditions for potential contestants. Each day that the Wheel of Fortune crew were present, there were up to three separate auditions (on the day I attended, there were three). At each of these auditions were hundreds of people, dozens of whom were called to take the stage to talk about themselves and play mock rounds of the show. I was lucky enough to be called to the stage while present. At the end of the audition, all mock contestants were told that they might receive an e-mail or letter from the show within three months, prompting him or her to attend a second audition later. Since the event was in July, this meant that I would receive something by the end of October. However, October came and went, and I assumed organizers were uninterested. That changed several weeks ago, when I received an e-mail prompting me to attend a second audition. That audition took place over three weeks ago now, and I had the privilege of attending.

While the hosts attempted to put the group of around 100 people at ease, there was still a noticeable tension at the outset of the hosts' efforts to get to know us. As we grew accustomed to the expectations, we seemed to grow increasingly comfortable with one another and the hosts.

It began with a host inviting the line of people into a small room and another host directing us to our chairs. Waiting for us there were a questionnaire and pencil, which we filled out while a third host created a seating chart. At the front of the room was a small, plastic, and vertical version of the wheel you see on the show; and next to this, a screen, about eight by eight feet, used to display the game board by which we would play an electronic mock version of the game. After an introduction, the hosts displayed the first puzzle, and called each person by name to spin, call letters, and solve. Each person, including me, was called at least once. I performed mediocre at this stage, calling three or four letters from the beginning of the puzzle before calling a letter not in the puzzle.

Thereafter, the hosts handed us one of two quizzes with several puzzles to solve. We had five minutes to solve as many as possible. Again, I performed only mediocre, solving some, but not even half, of the puzzles. With time expired, the hosts collected the quizzes and left the room to grade. During this time, potential contestants got to know one another and talked about the tests.

When the hosts returned, the man who seemed to be lead host regretted that not all participants could compete on the show, and stated that he would call those who would remain for a more intensive test. As a second host read off names, time passed, and I felt my chances diminish. Near the end, she read the name of the man with whom I'd been speaking. He had performed well during the first stage of testing, solving one of the puzzles. I was growing more leery of my chances, however, when the host said, "And finally...," and followed with my name.

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