I went to a Daily Show taping!

I complain a lot about New York City. It's not my fault; everybody who lives in New York complains about living in New York. I just follow the trend.

But though you wouldn't guess it from hanging out with a crowd of New Yorkers, there are certain reasons we all choose to live here. Reason number one: cool stuff. Lots of it. And sometimes it's free.

By far the bestest, coolest free thing you can do in New York is go to a taping of the Daily Show. It's easy. I went yesterday. And even though I booked tickets online three months in advance and lined up outside the studio three hours before the show started, I saw people just showing up and getting stand-by seats an hour before the doors opened, so all evidence suggests that going to a taping of the Daily Show is simple, awesome, and--well, awesome.

The staff is great: big fat New Yorker guys telling you they won't take your shit if you don't follow the rules; hard 80s rock blasting from the speakers between takes, hand-picked by Jon Steward himself; and big fat celebrities! I saw Matt Damon yesterday. Did you? Thought not. And that's why I live in New York.

Some stray observations: Jon Stewart and Matt Damon are both kinda short. Celebrities are exactly the same in real life as they are on TV, just more real-lifey. Sitting on a dirty sidewalk outside a studio for three hours isn't much fun. But the Daily Show totally is. And I went.

Yeah.