It’s tough to imagine Kevin Bacon bombing an audition, but on the latest episode of Hot Ones, he revealed that he had at least one where he “just completely shit the bed.” After taking an embarrassingly tiny bite of a wing covered in Da Bomb’s 135,600 Scoville “Beyond Insanity” hot sauce, Bacon opened up about his time as a young man trying to break into show business by day and trying to get into Studio 54 at night. He made it past the infamous club’s picky doorman Marc Benecke by paying attention to the shoes of the crowd who made it in. And, wouldn’t you know it, Marc was there for Bacon’s disastrous audition.
“They decide to do a show called Got Tu Go Disco, which is a Broadway show,” Bacon said, wincing at the wings. “There was a song called ‘I Love the Nightlife,’. . . so I come in with the sheet music, and I hand it to the piano player, and he starts to play it. It never occurred to me that the sheet music might not be in the key of the record. It was a disaster. It was way out of my range. . . to say that I didn’t get that part would be an understatement. I just completely shit the bed.”
That’s an excellent lesson for anyone looking for their big break. Know what key the song you’re singing is in, wear the right shoes, and don’t eat hot wings right before going on stage. We also can’t feel too bad for Bacon. Not only because of his career, but because Got Tu Go Disco (alternative name Gottu Go Disco) only lasted 5 days on Broadway.
In an another excellent episode of the webseries that’s 50% watching celebrities tear up, Bacon also discusses the cursing Shakespeare vibes of City on a Hill and explains why This Is Spinal Tap is a perfect movie.