The Wait Wait 2026 summer spectacular, part 2!

(upbeat music) - From NPR and WPE Easy Chicago, this is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm the man who looks forward to Labor Day because if you think I look good now, wait till you see me in fall colors. I'm Alzo Slade, and here's your host at the Stuttabaker Theater in downtown Chicago, Peter Segal. - Thank you Al, thank you so much. Thank you Alzo, thank you everybody. We are off enjoying the second week of our summer break, but I have got to tell you we are getting a little antsy. We wanna get back to work and start grappling with the week's news again. - That's right, we're idiots. - Before we make that terrible mistake, we're gonna satisfy our longing with some great moments from earlier this year in May. I had the pleasure of talking to our old friend Ken Jennings, who of course went from Jeopardy Champion to Jeopardy Host. - Peter took the opportunity to talk to Ken about his own appearance on Jeopardy, which, well, it didn't end as well as Ken's did. - So as you know, Ken, as I may have mentioned bitterly a number of times, when we've spoken, I myself was on Jeopardy many, many years ago. I did not do as well as you, but one of my memories was during lunch, I sat near Alex Trebek, the legendary host, and I heard him telling his producers, nobody understands, this is the hardest job in show business. Now that you are in the host's chair or podium on Jeopardy, do you agree? - Well, of course it always flatters the person in the job to point out how hard it is. - Yes. - But I will absolutely back up Alex here. I mean, after he passed away, sadly, during that guest hosting rotation, we have a lot of broadcasters in who had done everything. We had people who had reported from war zones, and to a person, they all said, "Wow, this game moves really fast." And that don't mean to imply that a trivia quiz show is as important as being in a war zone, but there is a unique skill set. And Alex was amazing at it, and I don't have anywhere near his level of grace or riz, but I'm gonna try. - Now, we heard that during that period, as you say, when many people were trying, they tried a lot of people as the host of Jeopardy, that they went through training to do it. Did you, is there Jeopardy host training? - There is Jeopardy boot camp. The Jeopardy writers, the people who write the clues, impersonate Jeopardy contestants, just to put you in three airpaces. And at first, they impersonate well-behaved Jeopardy contestants, doing the things we collect. - Sure. - As your difficulty level grows, they impersonate increasingly unruly and disobedient Jeopardy contestants, just to see what the host would do. - Really? So can you give me some of the simulations that they put you through? - Well, they don't become cantankerist necessarily, but they become erratic. Like, they'll stop responding to things in the form of a question. They'll see if you know what to do if they correct an answer late, or if they call out a category without being prompted. Just the little niceties of Jeopardy start going unobserved, because a lot of these are related to rules. You know, we're a serious game, Peter. I'm not saying that not my job is not a very serious segment, but you can't do Jeopardy seriously. - Yeah, you know, well, we have, okay, fine. (audience laughing) Can you, so you've been doing it for a while, has anybody sworn audibly after screwing something up? (audience laughing) - I feel confident that Jeopardy has violated the George Carlin rule on a few occasions. (audience laughing) - That was just more than me. - Yeah. - I remember when I was on, I think I said all seven at once after one question. (audience laughing) You obviously, because of your extraordinary success, as a contestant must have aspired to be a contestant for a while before you went on the show. Did you also ever want to be the host? - No, but over the years, many people would ask me, hey, clearly, if Alex were ever to retire, you'd be on the short list, and I would just laugh at them. No, no, no, no, no. That would be a very outside the box, kind of a Willy Wonka way to run a game show. If you invited back the lucky little boy, (audience laughing) and gave him the factory. Nobody's gonna do that in TV. But it turns out Jeopardy is kind of its own little institution and it runs by its own rules. - Yeah, and there you are. And apparently, if you are the champion, they make you the host. (audience laughing) Everybody who watches Jeopardy knows that after the first commercial break, when we come back, the host, now you used to be Alex comes over and talks to the panelists. Is that as difficult as it looks? - It's hard for the contestants. I actually really enjoy it. That was always the part of the show that I thought was a little bit cringy even as a kid. I sometimes have to leave the room during a boring story. (audience laughing) Like, it's like Jeopardy stops for a second and curbs your enthusiasm begin? - Yes, sir. (audience laughing) - That's why the theme song changes just at that moment. - The tuba comes in. - So I worked very hard on making that a little more engaging. And the fact is, Peter, I've gone my whole life trying to get out of conversations with you in 20 seconds. So, like, I was made for this. - Famously, I believe this is famous, that when you did your amazing run of 70 poor shows after the first, I don't know, 20. You ran out of interesting things to say about yourself. You were a young man, you had only done so much, so that you just started making stuff up to talk about with Alex. Is that right? - I ran out of ideas very early on. Like, if you see my fourth game, it's getting a little, the anecdotes are a little big. (audience laughing) And, but what I found out is nobody fact checks these, you know, really? (audience laughing) - Have Yorker's staff, Peter. - Right. - You shouldn't say you have a purple heart, but if you tell us you were a birthday clown, we are not going to leave you. - Right. (audience laughing) - Yes. I was watching celebrity jeopardy where I expected, because I know some celebrities, the question's to be a little easier. I was very impressed. The celebrities have gotten good. Do you think so? - I feel like the celebrities don't get enough credit. I think generally people assume, I think because of the will for all sketches, people assume celebrity jeopardy is a cake lock where it's like, states that rhyme with "Schnellohead." - Right. (audience laughing) - And as a result, I think they don't give the celebrities enough credit. Certainly, we want them to play well. We know they're playing for charity. It doesn't feel like a category. If it's showbiz, you can ask celebs, harder questions, perhaps, than civilians. So I might depend on the category. - Yeah, but it was like working for a living for real. That, take not having an assistant for this. (audience laughing) - Can't, is there any plans for like a dumb ass jeopardy? (audience laughing) Did I have a request? (audience laughing) - I was going to say, well, you know that show already airs and it's called, and then I realized, I would get in trouble. So I was like, oh my god, well Ken Jennings, it is always a pleasure to have you with us. This time, we have asked you here to play a game we're calling, what is H&R block? (audience laughing) As some people may remember, your jeopardy win streak ended with a question about H&R block. (audience laughing) That you did not answer correctly. (audience laughing) We're gonna ask you three questions about that tax preparation firm. (audience laughing) By the way, I've listened to not my job so many times over the years, that's the point. Is this the first time you're ever asking the guest about the single most traumatic thing that's ever happened? (audience laughing) (audience laughing) All right, if you had two or three questions about H&R block, you will win our prize for one of our listeners, Bill, who is the legendary Ken Jennings playing for? Bonnie Powers of the other Virginia. All right, here's your first question, Ken. H&R block was originally a bookkeeping business called the United Business Company founded by Henry Block and his brother. After his brother went back to law school, Henry took out a help wanted ad, which was answered by whom? Okay, the former head of the IRS under President Truman, who had just been fired by President Eisenhower, be his mother who told him he should hire his other brother or see no one, so Henry just invented someone with the initial R, so people would think the company wasn't just him. Wow. I'm gonna guess, be his other brother? You're right, that's what happened. (audience cheering) But he didn't phrase it as a question. He doesn't have to, he's off duty. All right, here's your next question. H&R block is obviously known for their tax work, but they have another surprising source of revenue. What is it? A, they're majority owners of America's largest chain of Halloween haunted houses. (audience laughing) B, they own the copyright for the GIF animated file format or C, they own the rights to the entire recorded music catalog of Parliament Funkadelic. (audience laughing) I'm gonna say, just because it delights me, the haunted house. The haunted house is no, I'm afraid not, although it'd be another seasonal business. They own the copyright for GIFs because they bought Compuserve and Compuserve way back when patented the GIF. Here's your last question. In 2005, H&R Block got in trouble when it was revealed that for the past two years. three years they had made significant errors when filing whose taxes. A, seven of the nine Supreme Court Justices. B, their own taxes. Or C, every player in the New York Yankees. I mean, I'm going to say their own B. You're right. [APPLAUSE] The managed to screw up their own corporate tax return. And they're excused, but we use TurboTax did not fly. [LAUGHTER] Bill, how did the Quizmaster Ken Jennings do on our quiz? Like a champ, two out of three. Congratulations, kids. Well done. [APPLAUSE] I have to-- I mean, OK, yes, we did this thing to you. We asked you about H&R Block. Does it feel good to finally conquer your demon that is H&R Block? After all these years, I'm finally back to 500. But I think of them all-- every time I drive past a strip mall, you see that little green square. Now Peter, I'm going to think of them every time I watch a gift. So you've made my life even worse. Help them year round. Ken Jennings is the host of Jeopardy. He's also the author of the Complete Connections Puzzle Book, which has eaten up a lot of my week. It's available now. Ken Jennings, thank you so much for joining us again. I'm way away from telling you, always a joy to see you. Take care. We'll see you on TV. Bye-bye. [MUSIC PLAYING] When we come back, Olivia Munn reveals that she went into acting because she was a failure TV news, and a Catholic priest commits the venal sin of gossiping about the pope. That's when we come back with more weightweight don't tell me from NPR. [MUSIC PLAYING] From NPR, NWB Easy Chicago, this is Weight, Weight, Don't Tell Me, the NPR News Quiz. I'm Alzo Slate, and here's your host at the Studebricker Theater in the Fine Arts Building in Chicago, Peter Seigo. Thank you, Alzo. Thank you, everybody. And hey, if you're listening at home right now, or wherever you are, and you think the people here are having a good time, and you want to see what that's like, have I got good news for you. You can always come see us live here in Chicago, and also on the road, we'll be at the beautiful outdoor Rose Music Center in Dayton, Ohio. Enjoy one last blast of summer in the great outdoors with us. That's on September 3rd. And we will also be at the Orphium Theater in Omaha, Nebraska on September 24th. And we've got more. Our comedy grab bag show is coming September 9th to the den theater in Chicago. Alzo Slate will be hosting. You'll hear stand up from Weightweight panelists and see special guests like me. For tickets and information to all our live events, just go to nprpresents.org. OK, so in order to help get through our news, quiz, withdrawal, while we're on vacation, we have decided to relive some moments from earlier in the year. Imagine us all at a resource somewhere, ignoring our families, lip-singing along to the not my job gain. Yes, little sad, really. Now, that's that. Some of these segments are real bangers. For example, here is guest host Nagin Farsad, talking to actor Olivia Munn back in April. She asked Olivia the star of your friend in neighbors on Apple TV how her career began. So I graduated college. I majored in journalism. And I always wanted to get to L.A. and I wanted to be an actor. But my mother's an immigrant. And so when I told her I wanted to be an actor, it was like, that's insane. We're not doing that. You're going to be a doctoral lawyer. And then I was like, I just love storytelling. So I was like, what about a journalist? And she's like, well, what exactly is that? So I pointed to the people on the news. And she's like, oh, OK, OK, that's OK. And so I go there. And then she made me a deal. She's like, I'll support you if you want to go to L.A. Only if you use your degree for one year. So I worked at this NBC affiliate in Tulsa and I did the assignment desk. And people who have done journalism, have been in the newsroom, the assignment desk is where you get all the calls. You get people calling in with complaints or nice things. It's just everything. But there's also all of these police scanners, which is the most important thing for you to do. There's police and fire department paramedics. And you're supposed to listen to all of them at once and be able to call it out. And I was the absolute worst person at that job. I'm sitting at the desk. And I hear nothing. And then you just hear a report over there and be like, there's a school bus on fire on 83rd Street. And I was like, there is. And then a year to the day I went in and I was like, I'm leaving. I'm not going to be staying here anymore. And they go, great. Well, you're now on Friends and Neighbors. And John Hans character takes to robbing his friends on that show, which made me question, which of your friends or neighbors would you like to rob? Yes. Yeah. So such a good question. You know, when I'm in New York, there are so many more cool rich artsy people around. And I mean, he's not-- he's my friend through my husband. So I just have to say that when I say, but don't be like, oh, he's just name dropping. Because he's not my friend. But I picked it his house. And Steve Martin has the best art that you can imagine. It's just like the coolest stuff. It's really everything's cool and curated in this. And I'm eating a cabob right next to some ridiculously expensive painting, and I just want to go back. You want to touch it with your cabob? Sure. It's great for it. I want to feel what it feels like. Like that. Something else. It's something-- you know what I should go? You're like, you can't ask me about that. And I'm just a little OK. Well, Olivia, we've asked you here to play a game we're calling. Our friends and neighbors. You star in the show, your friends and neighbors. But what do you know about the NBC sitcom Friends and the Australian soap opera, neighbors? Answer two out of three questions correctly, and you'll win our prize for one of our listeners, the voice of their choice on their voicemail. Bill, who is Olivia playing for? Melissa Hozier of Greetings, Barrel North Carolina. All right. [APPLAUSE] All right, well, we'll start with friends. Here's your first question. The barista at Central Perk, where the friends hung out was Gunther, played by James Michael Tyler. Gunther was only supposed to appear in a single episode. But the producers kept him around. Why? Was it A? Because Tyler was a huge nix fan. So the writers would ask him how to make showy sounds like a real nix fan. Is it B? A network executive thought the way Tyler answered the phone was the funniest thing in the show? Or was it C? Tyler was the only one who knew how to use the espresso machine. [LAUGHTER] [INAUDIBLE] just so you guys know B and C sound a lot of like-- They're saying E. I knew you'd just say banana or cat. [LAUGHTER] I just think no. [LAUGHTER] I do believe they said cat. Nana and cat sound a lot more-- Sounds very similar. Keep going. OK, they were saying C? Yeah, I feel like that's what they were saying. OK, C. That's right. The answer is C. [APPLAUSE] I don't know why he wasn't miming using the espresso machine. But anyway, there it was. He actually knew how to use the espresso machine. All right, let's jump over to neighbors. Here's your next question. In a 2013 episode of neighbors, bad boy Kyle Channing became temporarily blind. After staring directly at an eclipse, what circumstance led him to look straight at the sun? Was it A? His kidnappers held his eyes open and pointed them at the sun. Was it B? A dog stole his eclipse glasses and ran away with them. Or was it C? He was trying to win $10,000 in an eclipse staring contest. OK, the neighbors is a soap opera, right? Yeah. I'm going to guess it's B. That's right, it's B. How did you know? [APPLAUSE] The dog stole his glasses and he just looked anyway. So all right, back to friends. Lisa Cudro won an Emmy for playing Phoebe on Friends, but she always had a backup plan ready. In the same year that the show premiered, Cudro also did what? Was it A? Published a study in a neurological journal testing if left-handed people are more likely to get migraines? Was it B? Completed an internship at the three Michelin star restaurant the French laundry? Or was it C? Received a patent for a leash that lets you walk five dogs at once? It's A. I put that one. It's A. That's right, it was A. [APPLAUSE] Bill, how did Olivia do on our quiz? Olivia was perfect. Three right. [APPLAUSE] Olivia Mann is an actor who you can see on the screen. and Apple TV pluses your friends and neighbors. Season two premiered this week. Olivia Munn, thanks so much for joining us. - Thanks so much for having us. (upbeat music) - A few weeks later, I took another week off and this time Tom Papa got to fill in and talked to our guest, Father James Martin, a Catholic priest, a regular in the late night circuit and a best-selling author. - His latest book is a memoir about all the summer jobs he had as a kid and Tom got right to the most important question about it. - So your book is all about your past summer job starting off when you were a child. Which job made you believe in God the least? (laughing) - Frankly, I was the world's worst caddy at a golf course outside of Philadelphia and I was stuck in the middle of a lightning storm and my cat, my golfer told me to stay there with the bag of clubs under a tree and I realized that I was standing under a tree in the middle of an electrical storm holding a bag of lightning rods. (laughing) - But you have a real nice way of giving perspective looking back, these weren't really just dumb jobs. You did learn something along the way. - Yeah, I learned a lot about hard work first of all but also being kind to people because when you're humiliated as a bus boy or a dishwasher or a caddy, you learn how not to humiliate people. It was as effective as a year's worth of homelies on being kind. - Yeah, I was a bus boy and they are mean to you when you were a bus boy. I was probably 15 years old and a guy was really mean to me and I wasn't really as poised as you were and when he demanded that I give him roles, I may have licked one or two. (laughing) - I wouldn't do that now, father, but back then. - See, you are confessing. - No, no, no, no. - Three Hill Marys. - That's right. I absolve you 40 years later. (laughing) - Thank you. (clapping) Now you made a playlist to accompany your book and it has everything from afternoon delight to rock lobster on it. Do you actually make the playlist yourself and more importantly, what do you consider an afternoon delight? (laughing) - As I say in my book, it was a mark of some distinction if at age 15 in the summer of 1976, you knew what an afternoon delight was. So we consider ourselves very cool. That playlist actually is from the book and in each chapter I mentioned a song or two that was popular during the summer. And I tell people, this is not the playlist that I would look back and say, these are the songs that I like now from that time period. These are the songs that I actually listened to. So including afternoon delight. But my taste, I would say, develop a little bit more as I get older. (laughing) - I'm Catholic and I travel around the country as a comedian all the time and I go into all of these churches when I'm on tour. I try and fit it on Saturday before the show or before I fly back on a Sunday. And I really have noticed in the last couple of years these churches all around the country are filling up, there's a lot more activity that seems like from the early days to now, it seems like there are a lot more people going to church. Do you find that true? And do you think having an American Pope has anything to do with that? - I'd say a little of it. People have been thinking about this. People who entered the church for maybe a longer time than he's been Pope, but he's certainly given people a real shot in the arm. And it is really something to listen to the Vicar of Christ speak in flawless Chicago English. (audience applause) - Did you know Pope Leo before he became Pope? - I did a little bit. I was at a meeting called The Synod, The Synod of Vishops and I happened to be, we were at the same table and he's wonderful. He really is wonderful. I mean, I don't have to tell a Chicago audience that. He's kind and smart and reserved and prayerful. I'll tell you a funny story. I was helping out ABC News during the Conclave and I was so excited 'cause I knew him. It's amazing to see someone you know dressed up like the Pope coming out of that balcony. (audience laughter) - Dressed up like the Pope. (audience laughter) - That is Halloween and Christmas. (audience laughter) - I went back to the Jesuit community I was staying in the Jesuit headquarters and I was so excited and I said, I can't believe that he was at my table and they said, no Jim, you were at his table. (audience laughter) - One of my favorite lines was among the Italians. You know, he was, it was not exactly a huge surprise but he was kind of on the second tier of guys who were being considered. One of the Italians said that he was the least American of the Americas. (audience laughter) Which was a compliment. (audience laughter) Well, Father James, we've asked you here to play a game we're calling. - Don't take confession. Take these concessions. (audience laughter) - That's right. We're going to ask you three questions about stadium concessions. (audience laughter) - The food. - You know, it's funny. I actually have my PhD in stadium concessions. (audience laughter) - The HD stands for Hot Dog. (audience laughter) This is all the food that you can get at sporting events. - Oh my God. - If you answer two out of three correctly and you'll win our prize for one of our listeners, the weight-weighter of their choice on their voicemail, Bill, who is Father James Martin playing for? - Lauren Joyce of Chicago, Illinois. (audience cheers) (audience applauds) - All right, here's your first question. There's no concession more classic than Cracker Jack. But in 2012, a new product called Cracker Jacked Power Bites was not well received. Parents didn't like that the product contained what? A, twice as many peanuts, B, as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, C, venison. (audience laughter) - I'm going to say the parents were upset because it was B. - B, you're right. (audience applauds) They were loaded with caffeine, you know, for when you're like, "Man, I feel sluggish today." I need a bag of Cracker Jacks. (audience laughter) All right, here's your next question. Many attention-grabbing concessions are only sold at one particular concession stand, which is why a reporter overheard a woman at Yankee Stadium telling her friend, "What?" A, start on the upper deck, don't come back without Pokey. (audience laughs) B, somewhere here, there's tiramisu in little hats, we have to find it. (audience laughs) Or C, keep checking insta until they post the nacho drop. (audience laughs) - I'm going to say B just because I can hear someone in New York saying that. (audience laughs) You're right, B. (audience cheers) - You know, today I walked into a store with my fillies hat on, I'm from Philadelphia, and someone said, "Hey, you expect me to serve you with that on?" (audience laughs) And then you're like, "You feel like you're in a movie "sometimes, do you ever?" (audience laughs) And then you show them the collar and he's like, "I'm sorry, what do you want?" - Exactly right, and I wanted for free, too. (audience laughs) - Oh, I'd give it. (audience laughs) - All right, you're doing great. The most unbelievable concession we found is sold at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons, where you can get what? A, actual Falcon wings with buffalo or barbecue sauce. (audience laughs) B, a regulation-sized football helmet, containing one scoop of ice cream for each of the 32 NFL teams. (audience laughs) C, a beer that's only five dollars. (audience laughs) - I'm gonna say A is probably illegal. - B is repulsive. (audience laughs) So I'll say C. - That's right, C. (audience applauds) - Yeah. - And a $2 hot dog. (audience laughs) Bill, how do Father James do on her quiz? - Is there any other answer, but perfect. - Nice. (audience laughs) Congratulations, Father. Father James Martin is a New York Times bestselling author in Jesuit priest, his new book, "Work in Progress" is available now. Father James Martin, thank you so much for joining us on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." (audience applauds) - My pleasure, thank you. (audience applauds) - When we come back, our panelists tell some of their best lies ever and we talk to a real ego winner, which is as close as we will ever get to any of those letters. That's when we come back with more of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me." From NPR. (upbeat music) - From NPR and WB Easy Chicago, this is "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," the NPR news quiz. I'm Mousel Slade and here's your host at the to the Baker Theatre in the finals. in our building in Chicago, Peter Sego. - Thank you, Alzo. Thanks everybody. My gosh. (audience cheering) We're still on break, but we are so eager to get back to work that we are spending the whole episode reliving our favorite memories. So if you're out there wishing that we'd just do a new show already, so are we. - I don't know, Peter, when I took the job, I didn't know I could just sit around and let my past self do all the work. - Speaking of which, our panelists never work harder than when they have a chance to lie to you, which they did last May. In this bluff, the listener game with Nagin Farsad, Paula Poundstone, and Luke Burbank. - Hi, this is Rhonda Gras, calling from McCook Nebraska. - McCook Nebraska, where is that exactly? - We are smack dab between Denver and Omaha and home to Senator George Norris. - Oh, Senator George Norris? - Yeah, you gotta go back away to, you know, electricity. - Oh, I'm sorry. - And now we're to broadband. - So Senator George Norris, now I know, yes. - Yeah. - Well Rhonda, welcome to the show. You're gonna play the game in which you have to tell truth from fiction. Bill, what's Rhonda's topic? - Just one letter. - One letter can make a big difference. Consider the priest who told the congregation that all singers go to hell. This week, we heard a story of something off, just by one letter and the consequences were remarkable. Our panelists are gonna tell you about it. Pick the one who's telling the truth and you'll win our prize. The weight waiter of your choice on your voicemail. Ready to play? - I am. - First let's hear it from Nagine Farsad. - Dr. Mariano Cohen is a well-respected urologist in Argentina who was invited to speak on a local radio station. He was probably flattered that his vast knowledge of urology was going to be useful on a more public-facing scale. It's about time that the study of the testes, prostate, vast deference, and yes, the seminal vesicles, be taken as a serious matter of public health and not as an uncomfortable joke made by dirtbag comedians on silly quiz shows. (laughing) But when the urologist went live on the airwaves, the first question he got was, where did he study to become a uphologist as in someone who studies UFOs? Quote, "I'm a urologist, not a uphologist," he said as all the genitals he studied metaphorically shrank. (laughing) In the end, urologists are still the one doctor no one wants to see, but they're a pretty decent stand-in when it comes to explaining inexplicable orbs with strange behaviors. (laughing) - Urologist invited onto a radio show because they thought he was a uphologist, your next alphabet account comes from Luke Burbank. According to a story this week in The Hill, about six months ago, Ben Forstagg was at his desk as regional director of the FBA, the Farmington Brotworst Association, a Michigan-based lobbying group representing the case meets industry, when he got an email from Cash Patel, ordering him to look into a series of bank robberies in the area. Why, though, would the FBI director reach out to him? Well, thanks to a typo on his LinkedIn page, his name came up when director Patel Googled Michigan Regional Director of the FBI. Patel was actually emailing a guy whose real expertise was, "How spicy is too spicy when we're talking kielbasa?" (laughing) The even more amazing part, Forstagg nabbed the suspect. With no legal authorization, he staked out the one bank in town that hadn't been robbed yet, and sure enough, he caught the bandit when he showed up, something he said he saw in a Matt Damon movie. (laughing) Someone listing his job as with the FBI, instead of the FBA, ends up catching a criminal. Your last story of someone playing loose with the letters comes from Paula Poundstone. Tech Tech, who Wired Magazine has put in the top slot of their "Who to Watch" in Tech List, recently held their spring-fling employee recognition luncheon at the Southport High end in Boston. The round tables were festooned with bouquets of flowers, the event featured an improv teacher who led the attendees in some hilarious group storytelling, but there was something missing, the lunch. In fact, the crowd grew a little restless, digging through their bags for power bars and candy, by the last speaker who shook his head slowly and moaned in response to each disturbance, during his somewhat out-of-place testimonial, about the challenges of his life as a very tall man, his struggles with depression, and the difficulties of finding work as a butler in the current economic climate. Of course, CEO Watson threatened never again to use, let's have an affair, her go-to party planners, until they showed her a copy of the email, asking for the event to include "Lurch." (laughing) "Lurch was the butler from the Adam's family." (audience laughing) - So, one of these single letter typos made it into the news this week. Was it from Nguyen Farstad, a urologist who got invited to talk about ET's and UFO's from Luke Burbank, somebody who was a regional director for the FBA, being mistaken for some of it from the FBI, or was it from Paula Poundstone, a corporate event that went awry because they ended up with this visit from Lurch, the butler from the Adam's family, rather than a delicious lunch. - Well, I love the Lurch idea, and I believe the FBA, I'm going with number one. - You're gonna go with Nguyen's story of the urologist mistaken for a uphologist. Well, to bring you the correct answer, we spoke to someone familiar with the real story. You log on to a call to think you're gonna be asked for your medical expertise, and then some of you believe in aliens, and you're like, "How is this relevant?" - Yeah. - How is it relevant? (audience applauding) That was Dr. Reena Malik, a urologist, explaining the mix up in this week's news, although when you think about it, sometimes aliens are reputed to do the same sort of thing that you're a urologist do. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - And anyways, that means you got it right. Of course, the game was telling the truth. (audience applauding) You were the point for her. You won our game, you get to choose the voice of it when you might like on your voice. - Thank you. - Congratulations, and thanks for calling. - Thank you. - Thank you. (upbeat music) Finally, speaking as a theater kid, here's one of my favorite interviews of the last year with the composer, lyricist, and egot winner Bobby Lopez. Bobby won two of his three Tony Awards for the very irreverent, often obscene musical, The Book of Mormon. And he told us, he never expected it to be a big hit. - We're at the 10th longest running show of all time. - Yeah, how does it feel to be the Andrew Lloyd Webber of F-Bombs shows? (audience laughing) - It feels good, it feels good. I would never put myself in his rare fight air, but that's-- - No, no. Now, if you've never seen The Book of Mormon, it is incredibly obscene. In the best possible way. And I heard a story, it was actually in Josh Gads memoir. Josh Gads from the original cast. He says he was at an initial workshop. You were working out the show. And he like, read or performed one of the songs. And he actually said to Trey Parker, one of the authors, he said, "You can't do this. This is too offensive. People will kill you." (audience laughing) - Did you ever worry about that? - You know, I give him this. When you read The Book of Mormon on the page, you know, there's a convention in writing the scripts out where all the lyrics are in all caps. - Yes. - Which looks like screaming. - Yes. - So, when you have the lyrics to "Hasadiga Ibuwai" filling the page, it really jumps out at a different tone than like the music makes it much sweeter. - Yeah, and so the music, were you surprised that this musical about Mormon missionaries with its extraordinary language and themes and sense of humor? It was the monster hit that it became. - We were hoping to run a year and maybe get some protesters. (audience laughing) And sadly became this long-running mainstream right down the middle hit, which still baffles me. - I know, it's amazing. And the amazing thing is, the Mormon church was okay with it, right? They kind of got on board. - Yeah, they kind of judoed us. They were like, let's put an ad in the play bill. You've seen the show, now read The Book. (audience laughing) - Right now. (audience applauding) - Right there. - Are you aware of anybody who came off the street, saw The Book of Mormon, The Musical and any of its many iterations or productions and then said, "You know what? "I think I'll look into this religion." (audience laughing) - No, but I would love to meet you if you're out there. (laughing) - Before we leave the topic, I understand it in June. Once the show comes back from its theater catching fire, the show is going to be doing something called Magical Mormon Mystery Week. (audience laughing) - Yeah, that's excellent. - We're having Josh Gad, Andrew Randall's and all of the original company kind of come back and pop into the show at, you know, sort of random, in random scenes. And I will get to also be interested. it with Matt and Tray on certain nights, that he stays in it every night. Yeah. Tray is going to play Jesus and Joseph Smith every night that week. Wow. From what I know of him, that's kind of a dream come true, right? I mean, he looks like Jesus and Joseph. That's true. And famously, you are the youngest person ever to Egot, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony. And you also are the only person, as far as I know, who's done it twice in each category, sometimes more than twice. And we're just wondering, as the only person in the entire world to have ever done that, what kind of privileges does that get you? Do you get to cut in line at the movie theater? Oh, see, my family, my kids, my kids were very young at the time. And they and Kristen, my wife, got together and made an Egot necklace, like the one from 30 Rocks that's out of cardboard and macaroni and glue. Oh, that's awesome. I hope you can see it. It's online. That's fabulous. Speaking of your wife, who's astonishingly talented and shared in your Oscars, because she co-wrote the songs from Coco and frozen with you, she is missing that Tony award. So she's an ego. She's a big ego. Big ego. Any tension around the house or maybe when you're having, you know, those spats like we all do, you don't try and get me in trouble now. I know. Tony says it's your turn to clean the kitchen. Yeah. No, no. Is that tough though? I mean, because you obviously work very successfully with your wife. Does it like interfere with like your daily life? Do you pause and go, wait a minute? Is that a song? Did we just write a song? Is that a song? Or is it like you're not going to write a song about this, right? Absolutely. We are on vacation and we end up like running to write something like not for any project. Just like we wrote lyrics to the, like our kids love Harry Potter way back when and we wrote a whole Harry Potter quiz show set of lyrics to the Harry Potter theme. It was what time is it? You know what time it is? Time for the Harry Potter quiz. It went on. I got the whole thing. Really? Wow. Well, Bobby Lopez, it's a joy to talk to you. We have invited you here to play a game that this time we're calling. You are 15 going on 16. It's the 15th anniversary of Book of Mormon, which means it's time to start planning for the show's appearance on the MTV reality show My Super Suite 16. That's the show in which America's richest and most entitled teenagers through extravagant birthday parties and then cried at them. We're going to ask you three questions about that show and answer two of them correctly. You want to prize one of our listeners. Give me a second to watch all of those. Yes, please do that. Bill, who is Bobby Lopez playing for? Luxem Wong of Gathersburg, Maryland. All right, here we go. In season seven, as fans remember, birthday girl Sky got upset because all her friends were inside dancing, meaning that none of them could see what. Her head projected on to Mount Rushmore, which was the venue for the party. Be her arrival at the party, writing the same giant gold lion that Katie Perry wrote in her Super Bowl half time show or see her grand entrance in a 20-foot tall dress with a hydraulic lift built into it to raise her into the air. Well, that sounds like a girl obsessed with wicked. I think I'll choose to see. You were right. That's exactly right. All right. My Super Suite 16. My Super Suite 16 was so popular that it had several spin-off shows, including which of these A. Exiled, were the parents of teens who had parties in the show, send those teens to remote countries by themselves to see if they can survive. Be my Super Depressing 30 about people realizing they were totally unequipped for adulthood. Or see, I hate them all. Interviews with the caterers, waiters, and other people who staffed up parties. Wow. They all sound fake. I pick C again. You're going to pick C again. I hate them all. Interviews with the staff of the parties. No, I'm afraid it was A. Exiled. It was a whole last but one season. They sent these entitled kids, and as far as I know, they all survived and came back. All right. Last question. If you get this right, you win. My Super Suite 16 has inspired other creators, including which of these A. Your Friend, Trey Parker, who made a South Park episode, were Satan, throws his own Super Suite 16 party. Be choreographer, Twilight Thorpe, who created a dance show called Les Insufferables. We'll see actor Nicholas Cage, who vowed that his own kids birthday party would be better than any of those parties on the show, and subsequently had to declare bankruptcy again. It was A, right? It was A, yeah. It was. It was A, yeah. The Super Suite 16 South Park. He called the maker of South Park, called my Super Suite 16, quote, the most disgusting foul show ever made. Bill, how did Bobby Lopez do in our quiz? He got two out of three, and that's good enough for us. Bobby Lopez is the double egot winning songwriter and composer of Book of Mormon, which you can see during Magical Mormon Mystery Week at the Eugene O'Neal Theatre from June 9th through June 14th, Bobby Lopez. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Wade White, don't tell me. What a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you. Take care. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye, Bobby. That's it for our We Can't Wait to Get Back to Work Edition. We'll be back next week, but first let me tell you, Wade White, don't tell me is a production of NPR and WBZ Chicago in association with urgent hair cut productions, Doug Berman, Ben Neville and Dover Lord. Philip Begodica, RedsR, Lemrex, BJ, Leaderman, ComposedR, theme, our program, is produced by Jennifer Mills, Miles Nornboss, and Lilian King. Our Y fan is Peter Gwynn. Our vibes curator, that's Emma Choi, technical directions from Lorna White, her CFO is Colin Miller, our ops manager is Jaseer Vardak, our production manager is Robert Newhouse, our senior producer is Ian Choag and the executive producer. Now, wait, wait, don't tell me it's Mike Danforth. Thanks to everybody you heard on our show this week, all of our panelists, Alzo Slade, and that deep basoprofundo voice you heard. Well, that was Bill Curtis. Thanks to all of you for listening. Thanks to our fabulous audience here. You're the best. I'm Peter Segel, and we'll see you next week with a brand new show. This is NPR.