Definition: In this task, you are given a Reddit post as a text. Your task is to generate a title for this text. The title should start with "TIFU by", followed by a situation that caused humor. The title should contain 7-12 words, ideally.
Input: Text: **obligatory: this was about 6 years ago.  throwaway account just to be safe.**

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i'm really into audio.  recording, producing, and running live sound at gigs. i even have a pointless bachelor's degree in the field!  

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i had sort of become the go-to guy for many of friends' bands whenever they needed help with audio (recording demos, full songs, albums, live sound at a bar, etc).  loved to do it.

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one day, a friend of mine approached me stating that his band had scored an opportunity to play live on a local tv show, which would also be broadcast on the radio simultaneously.  

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the "only" condition was that they needed to provide their own sound equipment and have someone run it.

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 *(how even a local tv show can get away with having bands play on their program without owning a microphone stand is still beyond me, and should have been a red flag).*

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regardless, it seemed like a great credit to put on my portfolio, as well as a fun challenge.  this was my favorite local band.  i listened to them regularly as if i didn't know them personally - it made the idea even more exciting and i did it for free.

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this is the part where i would tell you which program this is, but honestly i would rather play it safe. 

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just know that, at one point, the host of the show was well known, but had faded into local fame by this time.  their name is certainly recognizable, at least.

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okay, moving on.

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**the first fu occured by my own pure stupidity, no question.**

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the band picked me up in their tour van on the first day to go set up.  this was at about 3:00am.  

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i had with me a plethora of audio equipment - a mixer, stands, microphones, cables - enough to sufficiently mic up a 5 piece rock band.  it was a lot for one person to carry.  but, i didn't want to look weak in front of them *(thank you, 3am logic.)*

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i walked out of my apartment building carrying literally as much of this equipment as i could in *one trip*.

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i took two steps down the stairs, hit a patch of ice, and ate it - hard.  all of my equipment hit the ground at once, creating a clatter that could have been foley for a tom & jerry cartoon.

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one of the guys ran out of the van to come help me. 

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"holy shit dude are you okay?"

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"yea, i'm fine, thanks, lets just get all this stuff packed up!"

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in reality, i landed entirely on my elbow, side, and kneecap.  i knew my knee and side were bleeding, and it hurt to bend my elbow, which i knew was going to have a nasty bruise.

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none of that mattered, though.  i had a responsibility to fulfull.  i kept it to myself and we drove to the studio.  

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**the second fu occured right when we got to the station.**  

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one of the producers showed us where the band would set up.  no issue there - they had a nice corner of the studio.  i asked the producer where i would be monitoring their sound from. i care about sound quality, and i assumed the producers did, too.  therefore, i figured there would be a little room or something a bit more isolated from the tv set where i could listen to the feed live, and make adjustments to tone and levels on the fly, if needed.

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despite the producer literally walking out of such a room, he just sort of looked around the set and set "you can just set up over there" - just behind the tv cameras in an empty space.  

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this was odd.  how was i supposed to monitor anything in the middle of the room?  i didn't have speakers, and my headphones were at home.

 *(i admit, this was a bit of a rookie move, but still, they didn't tell us anything ahead of time as far as what to bring, and this is the one thing i forgot to assume i would need.  we had no idea what the setup at the station would be like at the time).*

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the producer grabbed the host's headphones, which were very flashy and in certain colors as to stand out more on tv.  the host wasn't there, since this was the day before the actual program.

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"you can use these for today, but bring your own tomorrow.  and never show up to a tv set without headphones again, you understand?"

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(oddly specific advice that i won't ever forget)

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anyways, i felt like an amateur...but, we got sound levels, and went home.  tomorrow would be the "big" day.

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**the third fu isn't a specific instance - i'm just going to refer to it as the entire day, as a whole.**

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we arrive for the day, double check levels, and the band warms up a bit.  i use my own headphones.

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the producer calls a huddle to explain what would happen for the day.  at least...he *sort of* did.

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all he tells the lads is:  "we need you to play one song.  when i point to you after [the host]'s monologue, start playing".  

that's all he said.  this is a minor sidenote that will be relevant soon.

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it was around this time that i realized how close i was to the tv cameras, which were now powered on with cameramen behind them.  but, i figured i would just be behind the scenes the whole time doing what i love, so no worries, right?

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wrong.  what the producer said next set a whole new tone for the day.

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he turned to my corner of the room, looked at me, and said "oh hey, and don't be surprised if [the host] makes fun of you a bit.  just go with it."

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*(wait...what? what is he talking about? i don't remember signing up for this.)*

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he left the room without a second thought.  the band sort of looked at me with a face of genuine concern. i knew they felt terrible.  here i was, really helping them out, and now in return there is talk of me being made fun of on live tv?  even if it's just a local program, that idea stings. 

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this may not have been a national tv show, but i'll just say that this particular personality had a good fanbase in our city at the time (and still does, even more so recently) - so it's not like it's going unnoticed.  suddenly, i was nervous.  i tried to shake it off as best i could and press forward.

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i have my sound set, my headphones ready, and a lot of nervous energy, but i'm ready to make this band sound as great as i can for television. at the very least, i know what the hell i'm doing, so any of my confidence is coming from that notion.

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the show starts.  the host is talking.  he spewed a lot of political rhetoric that i mostly didn't pay attention to or agree with - i don't know.  he sort of just repeated himself for an hour.  i realized why i didn't know much about him, and still don't.  this guy sounded ridiculous, but he had his fanbase and pandered to them at all costs.

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it's been an hour.  at this point, in our "up since 3 am 2 days in a row" daze, the entire band and myself are just wondering what is going to happen.  they want to play, and i'm just standing there doing nothing.  we were a little impatient, but that's on us for being rookies.  either way, we are all waiting for the producer to give us that cue...

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...but just then, the focus shifts.  the host starts talking about the band.  but not about who they are, or where they're from, or what they do...instead, he starts making fun of the band's *name*.

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i'll leave their name out of this, but i'll just say that he found a way to make a stupid middle eastern racist joke out of it. 

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he would, frequently, say this joke on the air, sprinkling it throughout his long drawn out rants about something none of us cared about.  honestly, we weren't offended by that kind of humor.  that had nothing to do with how dumb this experience was.  

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to put it bluntly, this guy just wasn't funny.  his jokes were unoriginal, and he kept harping on them like he was the funniest guy in the room.  he wasn't.  he was just the one the cameras were pointed at.

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some more droning, band-name-making-fun-of, and at this point i think the band is starting to wonder if they're ever going to get to play or if this is the dumbest day of their lives - finally, the host tells them to play a song, and the producer gives them the signal.

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as i mentioned before, the band was told to pick a song and play it - and that's what they did.  now, the song they chose starts with a pretty solid guitar riff, and a bit of an intro, followed by the band jamming, and eventually vocals start. this is relevant.

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it's only a 3 minute song, it's catchy, and i was the one who suggested that they play it.  i think it was their best shot at a hit, and i figured this studio would like a good rock song.  seemed like a winner.

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i'm monitoring the levels as the band starts - but just as the vocals begin, the tv feed fades out and cuts to commercial. the producer walks out of his room and up to the band.

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"okay, that's enough guys.  we're done."  

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the band stops playing.  that was it?  the whole thing?  they barely got into the song. i can't really explain how dissapointed we all were.  we had no idea they only needed us for a quick segue. 

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two days in a row of waking up at 3 am - my stupid fall, getting scolded for not knowing exactly which equipment to bring, their band name being made fun of on air multiple times, all for them to play less than 30 seconds of a song. 

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at the very least they *could have told us that this is what they needed us for*, but it was a complete surprise to everyone.

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and we aren't done.

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the producer follows this up with some 'friendly' advice: "hey, guys!  next time you're on tv, pick something that gets to the point quicker.  that took way too long." and he walked away in a huff.

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we all felt a little crushed, and i could tell that comment pissed the band off... but we still had 30 odd minutes of show left. 

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i couldn't go anywhere, which was too bad...because somehow, in those 30 minutes and the midst of our frustrated, dissapointed, overtired daze, the host decided that this would be the perfect time to put ***me*** on the spot after the commercial break.

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here's all you need to know about my appearance.  i'm red headed (sort of - closer to brown hair), a little skinny, and at the time my head was buzzed.  

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or, as the host of the show described me on air... "chuckie" ...the doll from child's play.

*(remember how chuckie had a buzzed head?  classic!  who could forget?)*

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out of nowhere, they pointed the cameras and lights at me, and i was the focus of attention.  the next few minutes felt like a complete blur - but the jist of it is that he would not stop comparing me to chuckie, calling me creepy and a stalker in the corner of the room.  

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i don't remember what else he said, but i felt pretty ridiculous.  at one point, they even put a side-by-side picture of me and chuckie on tv to compare. i didn't have a mic on me, which is good.  i either would have said something really stupid out of awkwardness, or i would have said something that could have gotten me kicked out of the show..because i was secretly fuming about this entire experience.

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*(you know, to this day i don't entirely see the resemblance, but that was his joke for the rest of the program and i had to take it).*

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eventually, the show ended, and the nightmare was over.  i walked up to the band, and as soon as the crew was out of earshot, my friend bluntly said "let's get the fuck out of here".

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to this day, the band looks back at that day as an enormous waste of time.  they never got any additional notriety from that appearance.  based on the host's rants, i think the demographic was wildly off base, but even so it's hard to show yourself off in 30 seconds or less.

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they apologized to me profusely, which wasn't their place to do.  none of this was their fault, and i would help them again if something came up.

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even with how awful the whole experience felt, i've said over the years "hey, don't feel bad.  you had an opportunity, and you had to take it!"

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every time i say that, they always respond with a simple "no...we didn't".

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like i said.  they're good guys.

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finally, to bookend this: remember my first fu, where i wiped out on the ice?

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well, i *still* feel pain in a very small spot on my elbow if i put any pressure on it - right where i landed on it 6 years ago.  not sure what that's about, but it seems permanent.  a reminder of one of the weirdest experiences as an audio guy.

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***who knew that chuckie could feel pain?***

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TIFU by agreeing to run sound for a friend's band on live TV.