NPR comedy news quiz 'Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!' to bring live show to Benedum Center

Since 1998, listeners have enjoyed NPR’s comedic news quiz show “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” On Thursday, the show, normally recorded in Chicago, is coming to provide live laughs and current event insights at the Benedum Center.

“Wait Wait” is a weekly show that features host Peter Sagal and a rotating panel of three funny people riffing on the news. There are a number of games with listener contestants, as well as a segment called “Not My Job,” where Sagal interviews a notable person and quizzes them on a subject that has nothing to do with their expertise. Recent “Not My Job” guests have included Chris Pine, James Patterson and Janet Yellen.

While the recorded shows, which air on NPR stations across the country and also are available in podcast form on all major platforms, have millions of fans, Sagal said the live shows are a wholly different experience.

“Our live shows are what you hear on the radio but much, much more,” Sagal said.

That “more” is literally more, he said, in that they record about twice as much material as ends up in the broadcast show. So much so that “Wait Wait” gets a lot of listener suggestions to release the raw tapes as a bonus.

Sagal’s response to that? “Well, if we do that, why would anyone come see us?”

The show records so much material because the writers don’t always know what jokes and stories will land with the live audience — or the three panelists.

“Sometimes our panelists just find something to be incredibly funny, and it inspires them to do great and wonderful things. And sometimes they stare at me like I’m speaking another language,” Sagal said.

While “Wait Wait” has a room of about six to eight writers who hunt down the week’s wackiest news stories and punch up punchlines about them, the panelists play a key role in creating some of the show’s funniest moments.

“Our show is weird because we take all that prepared material, and we throw it at our panel. … A lot of times, they come up on the spot with something better than what we had,” Sagal said.

Regular panelists for the show include comedians and media personalities like Paula Poundstone, Mo Rocca and Dulce Sloan. Sagal said they choose their weekly panels with some intention, though all of the panelists play well together.

“We try to put together panelists who are varied from each other. … We want to have three distinct voices,” he said.

The news they discuss ranges from the biggest stories of the week to tales that are a bit more off the beaten path.

“A lot of it is just stuff you happen to find lurking out there, some story we find on some obscure website about a study, or some strange crime that happened,” Sagal said.

He’s been highly impressed by his visits to Pittsburgh — and not just because of the multiple Primanti’s sandwiches he’s eaten. “I remember we flew into the Pittsburgh airport, got into a cab and went through a tunnel, and I found myself looking at downtown Pittsburgh. And my jaw dropped. … I was just stunned by how gorgeous it was. Nobody had told me.”

He discussed what makes the show’s “Not My Job” segment, where he gets to talk to notable people, so different from a typical celebrity interview.

“We generally stay away from what they’re usually asked about,” Sagal said. Specifically, he talked about how Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen’s interview included much more than monetary policy. “It’s not that those things aren’t important. They are. It’s just that they’re covered every other time.”

“What we like to do is, here’s Janet Yellen, and you’ve heard of Janet Yellen, but who is she? What else is there about her?” he continued. “There has to be something — because we all have something — that is outside of her job, that’s not her job. I love doing that.”

He hopes that this approach helps to humanize these famous folks for the average listener.

“If it’s a person who evokes strong feelings, both positive and negative, if they’re on our show, you will probably still have those feelings. But now you’ll know that you’re having those feelings about a human being,” he said.

“Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” typically records at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago, but Sagal said there is something special about when they take the show on the road.

“People really appreciate it when we come to their town,” he said. “In a weird way, it’s like a fan convention in that people come out because they have this shared interest in what we do and there’s this celebration in the audience.”

The Pittsburgh live recording of NPR’s “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. For more information and tickets, visit trustarts.org.