But with auditions for future seasons of the race coming up soon, this seems a good time to respond to some of the questions
and comments I get from readers about how to prepare for The Amazing Race
if you are lucky enough to be selected for the cast.
Having invested the time and effort to participate in the TV show, Jamil
and Idries should have paid more attention to some of the recurring themes
of the scripted challenges:
*Water:* Beaches fulfill vacation travel fantasies and stereotypes, and
underwater challenges provide an excuse for swimsuit photography of racers
who have been cast, in part, for sex appeal. Almost every season of The
Amazing Race has included swimming and some sort of diving or underwater
challenge. Racers haven't usually had to know anything about sailing, but
there has almost always been a task involving some sort of kayak, canoe,
or other local variety of paddle-boat. Be prepared to swim a few laps and
free dive to the bottom of the deep end of a pool, to use a snorkel, to
get in and out and balance in an unstable small boat (a sit-on-top plastic
kayak would be good practice), and to paddle and steer using both a
double-bladed kayak paddle and a single-bladed canoe paddle.
*Heights:* There's always been at least one, usually more than one,
challenge each season designed to provoke fear of heights: skydiving,
bungee jumping, zip-lining, rappelling, etc. Most of these don't require
much skill, but it might be worth investing in a lesson in rappelling,
where practice can make a considerable difference in your rate of ascent
or descent.
*Bicycles:* Phil Keoghan, the master-of-ceremonies/co-producer of The
Amazing Race, is a bicyclist. Almost every season has included at least
one task in which the racers have had to ride bicycles. Often, what
catches Phil's eye and gets included in the race is some idiosyncratic
type of local cargo or utility bicycle. Be prepared to ride a heavy,
unfamiliar, somewhat ill-fitting bicycle with an awkward and/or unbalanced
load (a beach cruiser with a bag of potatoes in one side basket, for
example) for five miles on a bumpy, hilly dirt road. Don't forget the
possibility that you might be bicycling on the left side of the road!
*Driving:* Nothing can really prepare you for Third-World driving (and you
probably shouldn't attempt it anyway). But contestants on The Amazing Race
can count on, and should practice, driving (1) a vehicle with a manual
transmission (stick shift or maybe even column shift), (2) on the
left-hand side of the road (some people find it easier than others to get
used to driving on the "wrong" side, so take any opportunity to try it),
and (3) the largest vehicle you can practice on, since on the race you
might have to drive a truck, camper-van, etc.
*Eating:* There's almost always an eating challenge involving either
something that looks, smells, or sounds revolting form its description, or
eating an excessive amount of something that would be palatable in a
smaller quantity. For the racers as for real-world travellers, the key
thing to keep in mind is that if it's being served to you as food, it's
probably not poison -- even if you can't tell (and maybe don't want to
know) whether it's animal, vegetable, or mineral. Don't think about what
it is. Just eat it.
In real-world travel, "caveat emptor". You can and should make it a point
to pause before you commit to any potentially hazardous activity. Just
because it's being offered by an organized, "legitimate" seeming operator,
or "everybody's doing it", doesn't mean it's regulated, inspected, or --
most importantly -- safe. If you aren't sure, don't do it.
On "The Amazing Race", you can't afford to hesitate. The challenges are
designed and supervised by professional stunt-men and women,and vetted by
Hollywood liability lawyers. Cast members have to sign releases, but the
producers don't want the bad publicity of someone getting killed on the
show. Production-team medics are standing by. Some of the challenges are
intrinsically dangerous, but if you aren't committed to doing anything
you've seen on any prior season of the race, without hesitation, don't
apply for the cast.
Some couples plan to have one member of the team do all the tasks that
require some particular skill. It makes sense to know your relative
strengths and weaknesses, so that you don't have to spend time thinking
about which of you is the better stick-shift driver, or which of you is
better at steering and should take the rear seat of the double canoe. But
you should both be able to do all of the things I've listed above. You
can't always tell, when you chose which team member will take on a
challenge, what skills it will require. Some challenges have to be
performed by both members of the team, or by whichever team member didn't
do the previous challenge. Not infrequently, one team member has to do a
task because their partner is ill or injured.
For the first few seasons, the producers of the TV show relied on
self-produced videos submitted by pairs of would-be cast members. They
soon realized, however, that some couples who looked good on camera
weren't good at filming themselves. So they began holding "casting calls"
in targeted cities, where a film crew from the local CBS affiliate sets up
for the day, usually at a shopping mall, and teams can line up to have
their 2-minute audition filmed.
On Saturday, March 9th, the producers of "The Amazing Race" are holding
one their periodic open auditions and screen tests in San Francisco for
future seasons of the race. A Channel 5 TV crew will be at the Marmot
outdoor clothing and gear store (165 Post Street near Union Square) from
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Get there early to minimize the wait (and to get a
chance to see how other applicants pitch themselves). Bring your completed
application forms, and practice your audition performance beforehand. It's
an assembly line, and if others are waiting you won't have a chance for
multiple takes of your screen test.
Those whose audition tapes are picked out by the "Amazing Race" casting
team will be invited to Los Angeles for follow-up interviews and further
auditions. You might hear from them right away, or not until many seasons
after you first apply.
CBS and the producers of "The Amazing Race" have always thought of it
primarily as a "relationship" show first, a travel show only second. You
can tell that from the questions they suggest that applicants answer
during their auditions:
1. Why would you make a great team to win The Amazing Race?
2. What do you hope to improve or change in your current relationship?
3. What issues do you need to work on?
4. How much have you traveled together?
5. What team do you most relate to from the past season?