The Conical Glass: Berkeley has Carl Kasell fever!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Berkeley has Carl Kasell fever!

The crowd at Zellerbach Hall was pumped up. Tickets to the event had sold out months ago, mere minutes after they'd gone on sale. Was it a rock concert? An appearance by Dennis Kucinich? (It was Berkeley, after all.) Nope -- it was an NPR taping.

The Bay Area is a hotbed of NPR fans; if you want to attend an appearance by a public radio stalwart like Terry Gross or David Sedaris, you'd better be pretty quick on the draw. Personally, I had set an alarm on my computer to go off the moment tickets to "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" were released last summer. Having attended WW's previous Bay Area taping almost exactly two year ago, I knew how fanatic those Carl Kasell groupies are. To satisfy more fans, WW scheduled two tapings in Berkeley this time around -- one regular news quiz, and one "evergreen" show mocking past events that they could slot in during holiday weekends. When I logged on to the Cal Performances web site, tickets for the Thursday news quiz taping were already sold out. I was a little disappointed, but at least I was able to score three tix for Friday (one each for Joe, me, and my WW-loving friend Vallery).

Having listened to today's broadcast from the Thursday taping, I can now state that we got the better end of the deal. Each episode of WW features a special celebrity guest, and when the program (which is usually recorded in its home base of Chicago) goes on the road, they usually try to find a local notable. Last time they taped here, they had beloved San Francisco author Armistead Maupin on. The show that aired today featured San Francisco Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein, who is far more famous than the average newspaperman because he (a) was once married to Sharon Stone and (b) had a well-documented run-in with a Komodo dragon in 2001. However, I didn't find him to be one of their more scintillating guests.

Guess who we got on Friday -- Linda Ronstadt. Now that is a star. What's more, she was incredibly witty and charming. Host Peter Sagal interviewed her for probably 20 minutes, which will no doubt be cut down to around 5 for the 50-minute-long broadcast. (WW is ruthlessly edited -- the taping took almost two hours.)

Our WW panelists were Paula Poundstone, Adam Felber and Sue Ellicott. Attending a taping really allows you to see how quick-witted the panelists are with their ad libs. However, probably the funniest thing about the entire evening was something that, unfortunately, will never make it onto the air. There were two sign-language interpreters onstage -- I'm not quite sure how a radio show could attract deaf fans who would be eager to go see a live taping, but there you have it. One of the questions was about an old quote from Ronald Reagan that involved the punchline "crapping a pineapple." (This is real highbrow fare, folks.) Paula and Adam realized how hysterical it was that the interpreters had to sign the phrase "crapping a pineapple," and they kept working it into their conversation so that the interpreters would have to "repeat" it in ASL. Maybe you had to be there, but it was so funny I was weeping with laughter.

I realize that writing about humor is just never funny, so I'll stop here and just say that any WW fan needs to go see the show live. If we lived in Chicago, it would be hard to resist attending tapings on a weekly basis.

posted by 125records @ 8:23 PM

5 Comments:

At 6:41 AM, Janet said…

When we listened to yesterday's airing we wondered if you and Joe were in the audience. Paula as usual scored a couple of jawdroppers (incontinent adults, the pedestrian on the cell phone), but from your description it sure does sound like you witnessed a superior show, pineapples and all. We've seen just one taping in Chicago and the one here in the CBus. From time to time we discuss taking a roadtrip to Chicago on occasional Thursdays. It's only 6 hours driving each way, after all. If not for the kids...

I love hearing newscasters other than Carl on Morning Edition on Thursday and Friday. It reassures me that he's commuting to his second job as expected.
At 11:36 AM, Paula said…

I am pea-green with envy that you got to see Linda R. in person. I've been having a little LR renaissance lately.
At 8:58 PM, 2fs said…

Radio for the deaf, eh? Too bad I'm not starting a grunge-rock band...
At 6:40 PM, yellojkt said…

Carl Kassell must have to carry a stick to beat off the groupies. And I'm sorry, I cringe now just hearing Paula Poundstone's name.
At 6:44 PM, 125records said…

Paula Poundstone is freakin' hilarious! She had a Bravo special on a few months ago that was terrific, and she's arguably the funniest panelist on WW (Vallery votes for Charlie Pierce).