What will you give me? A little fame and fortune

Texas

Some movie stars may have been discovered at drugstores in Los Angeles, but Brandon Zahn is seeking his fame and fortune at a cattle auction in Milano.

Zahn's interest in auctioneering led the Texas A&M University senior majoring in animal science to a featured spot on the Nick@Nite Road show.

The show was filmed Monday at the Milano Livestock Auction in Milano, a small Central Texas town in Milam County. Show producers arranged for David Mecedo of Tulare, Calif., the 2005 Livestock Marketing Association World Champion auctioneer, to appear on the show as Zahn's mentor.

Zahn, who grew up in Boling, often went to auctions with his relatives, who were in the cattle business. He always thought being an auctioneer was "pretty cool," he said.

The idea behind the Road Show, said the show's director Ward McCarthy, is to give something extra to viewers who give the network their time. The show's crew brainstormed about what they could do in Texas (where it was warmer than at their New York base) and came up with the idea for cattle auctioneering. The series of five, one-minute segments play on Nick@Night on Friday evenings during breaks in programming. Zahn's segment is scheduled be aired Dec. 22.

Dr. Chris Skaggs, Zahn's coach on the Texas A&M livestock judging team, was asked to find a student who might be interested in appearing on the show. The ideal candidate was described as a "judging team student who had demonstrated excellence in public speaking and who had no previous auctioneering experience," Skaggs said.

"Brandon was high individual in oral reasons at the national championship judging contest last year so I knew he would be comfortable doing it," he said. "I called him on Thursday night last week before the filming on Monday and bounced the idea off of him, and initially he thought I was joking. It took some conversation to convince him otherwise and that the idea was serious."

"I'm learning how I'm going to have to talk fast and keep my numbers straight," Zahn said during a break in the shooting. He said Macedo's coaching was giving him a better appreciation of what auctioneers do.

"I ought to learn a lot," he said.

Macedo--whose auction barns sells about 91,000 dairy cows a year--said he thought Zahn would do great on the show and as an auctioneer.

He also shared some of his auctioneering tips. The key is to know the worth of the animals on the floor of the auction ring, he said.

"Take them to what they're worth," Macedo said.

Also, the auctioneer has to learn the egos of the buyers.

"You get them playing against each other," he said.

Zahn's "doing a great job," said Louis Ramey, a stand-up comic who appears as a regular on the show.

"He's nailing all of his lines. He's sounds like he's never auctioneered before," he said with a laugh. "Of course, we hire them to look pretty and smile to the camera."

"He's doing great," said co-star Phoebe Jonas, "He's constantly feeding Louis' ego, and he's not afraid to look foolish." The script, it was rumored, had Zahn donning a wig later in the show.

Another plus, Jonas said, was that Zahn was patient with people constantly telling him what to do. "And he's pretty good at the craft table," set up for the actors and crew for snacks, she said, laughing.

Ronnie Lastovica, co-owner of the livestock auction, said Zahn was doing well as a first-time auctioneer.

"Brandon's great and polished," Lastovica said.

It was a pleasure to host Nick@Nite as well, he said.

"It targets kids who may never go to a livestock auction," Lastovica said. They get a chance to see it. I think it's great for the industry.

"They've been easy to work with and for," he added. "They're very professional. They're focused. They have everything down to the 'nth' degree."

Date: 12/18/06

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