Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 24, 1994                   TAG: 9412070055
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C10   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                 LENGTH: Medium

LETTERMAN'S STANDBY FANS CRUISE THROUGH RICHMOND

There are 18 of them, and they all have one motto: ``Dave Says Road Trip - We Say, How Far?''

David Letterman's newly created ``Standby Audience,'' on the third day of a weeklong bus tour to Florida, pulled into Richmond on Tuesday night.

``We have no itinerary,'' said Tammy Rubin, 19. ``We're just headed south! Our lives are in Dave's hands.''

Rubin, a sophomore at Ithaca College in upstate New York, was one of 20 fans plucked Monday from a long line outside New York City's Ed Sullivan Theatre, where ``The Late Show with David Letterman'' is taped every weekday afternoon.

The popular late-night television host promptly dubbed them his ``Standby Audience'' and sent them on a televised road trip scheduled to end Friday afternoon in Miami Beach.

Since then, the 18 able to take a week off have spent most of their time on a tour bus equipped with several television monitors. They have stopped in Atlantic City, N.J., and Washington, D.C., and have appeared on Letterman's show every night.

``It still has not hit me that this is happening,'' said Eric Schnabolk, 18, a freshman at Ithaca traveling with Rubin and fellow freshman Neha Patel, 18. ``I've lost my voice screaming `Dave' over and over again.''

In Richmond, they spent the night at the luxurious Jefferson Hotel and ate breakfast at the Third Street Diner before heading out for their next stop, Fayetteville, N.C.

``The hotel was gorgeous,'' Patel said. ``I wish we had more time to look around the city.''

Jeff Stilson, a writer for the Letterman show, is traveling with the group and is, at least nominally, in charge of the tour.

``We came up with the idea at a writers' meeting,'' Stilson said. ``We like to do something fun for the standby audience every now and then. This time, somehow, we're going to end up in Miami.''

One problem with the plan: most of the 18 don't have any luggage. Nearly half were wearing green T-shirts with the Jefferson Hotel logo.

``We have no clothes - nothing,'' Rubin said. ``Let's just say we're using a lot of perfume.''

``We buy as we go,'' said Janet Parker, who had come to New York from Indiana on vacation. ``I think this is the third day for these jeans.''

But none of them seemed to mind. They also didn't mind being on the road over the Thanksgiving holiday.

``The people are all so nice,'' Parker said. ``We're having such a good time.''