Seattle's Burbank Hits Chicago
Tomorrow morning, a local boy's going to try to make toothpaste confiscation funny: One of the few shows produced by NPR that actually achieves wit on a regular basis, Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me, is gonna be guest-hosted by a Seattleite for the next three weeks.
As our kids slouch back to school weighed down with our expectations for their futures, it might lighten their loads to hear a little about Luke Burbank, Nathan Hale High School and University of Washington grad, fast-rising NPR radio star and lifelong muck-up.His interview in the Times offers this enlightening look behind the scenes of NPR's weekly news quiz:Saturday, and for the next two Saturdays after that, the 30-year-old will pop up as interim host of Public Radio's popular game show, "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me" (10 a.m. on KUOW 94.9 FM).
He'll be "live" in front of a studio audience and about 2 million listeners, being smart and funny and quick, lion-taming the panelists, juggling calls and keeping score.
I get the real life Carl Kasell with me, which is great. Carl is going to be the Gandalf to my Frodo. Carl Kasell, let me tell you, is like a deity in the minds of the NPR listeners. I've been on the panel a couple of times now as a warm-up for this, and after the show — they do it in front of 500 people in this big auditorium in Chicago — there are more hot 20-year-old girls that want to talk to Carl Kasell. It is disturbing on so many levels, including the fact that I'm just jealous.Also of note: "NPR is like a giant Seattle."
We're sure Burbank is a nice guy, but we can't help feeling that it shoulda been Moe.
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