Wait wait

"Wait wait don't tell me" is an NPR show, starring Peter Sagal, and a rotating panel of some fairly funny individuals. They all speak very very well, which I find to be absolutely delightful. I think that a lot of the jokes are very predictable, but they are all so well phrased and for that reason, extremely enjoyable. (Good grammar and correct sentence structure can compensate for pretty much any inadequacy).

On one show, Peter Sagal introduced a segment about some corporate business blunders by calling it "that capitalism hall of shame that makes the six remaining communists in the world think that they are doing something right." They had a great deal of fun with the Dick Cheney incident, referring to it once as "the Vice President's hunting spree." Also, their take on the British spy operation in Russia had me (literally) laughing out loud on the train - "my office is bugged, let's go talk by the rock!"

However, I want to point out the difficulty that I always encounter when making such recommendations. The problem is that there are great variations in the shows, and I can't predict whether you'll hear the funny bit, or the obscure one. Also, (very much like with Monty Python, or Eddie Izzard) there are not that many jokes that are accessible to everyone, and are amusing to the first-time listener. They are there, but they are interspersed with content that is entertaining only to the already indoctrinated fans. So ideally, I'd start you off with some parts of a past show that I know are hilarious. Just like if I wanted to introduce baseball to somebody who is not familiar with the sport, I would probably opt for something a little dramatic, along the lines of October 3, 1951 at the Polo Grounds. Or if I wanted to show this blog to a new reader, I'd point them to a generic post, and not something that is an inside joke between myself and three people who lived on my floor Freshman year. So, you get what I mean, I hope.

Ok. With that in mind, you just have to listen to this! And, NPR is fantastic, because they provide podcasts of the show, that you can subscribe to, and listen to on the go.