Limericks

Transcript

PETER SAGAL, HOST:

Coming up, it's Lighting Fill In The Blank. But first, it's the game where you have to listen for the rhyme. If you would like to play on-air, call or leave a message at 1-888-WAIT-WAIT - that's 1-888-924-8924 or click the contact us link on our website, waitwait.npr.org. There you can find out about attending our weekly live shows back at the Chase Bank Auditorium in Chicago and our upcoming shows in Louisville, Ky., September 3 and Ann Arbor, Mich., on October 1. Hi, you're on WAIT WAIT ...DON'T TELL ME.

LALU ABEBE: Hi, this is Lalu Abebe from Cambridge, Mass.

SAGAL: Lalu Abebe?

ABEBE: Yes, that is my name.

SAGAL: And what do you do there in Cambridge?

ABEBE: I work for a bank, and I teach yoga.

SAGAL: You do?

TOM BODETT: Does Lalu Abebe wear Lululemon?

ABEBE: I do.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Well, welcome to the show, Lalu. You, of course, are going to play our Listener Limerick Challenge. Bill Kurtis, right here, is going to read you three news-related limericks with the last word or phrase missing from each. If you can fill in that last word or phrase correctly on two of the limericks, you'll be a winner. Here is your first limerick.

BILL KURTIS, BYLINE: Beach pain is taking a fun turn 'cause SPF labels I unlearn. In dark tattoo's stead, there's white skin and red. I'm making designs with my...

ABEBE: Sunburn.

SAGAL: Sunburn.

KURTIS: Sunburn it is.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Yes. The big summer trend among young people is to use sunscreen and Band-Aids to create elaborate sun burn patterns on their bodies, geometric patterns or portraits of people in pink. It's called sunburn art. It's just like, you know, cappuccino foam art if the cappuccino would later get skin cancer.

(LAUGHTER)

AMY DICKINSON: Yeah, I'm sure the new...

BODETT: We did it by accident at my house. A month ago, we got a new trampoline. And me and my 9-year-old were putting it together. It was a very hot, sunny day. I took off my shirt, and I had my 9-year-old put the sunscreen on my back.

SAGAL: Oh, I see.

BODETT: And later that day, my wife came home. And she said you have like six white little handprints.

(LAUGHTER)

BODETT: So it's like - remember when they used to put them in clay and paint and bring them home? Yeah, now they're on my back.

DICKINSON: My kids would write kick me so you're good. That's good. That's a kid that likes you.

SAGAL: All right, very good. Here is your next limerick.

KURTIS: Put a ring on this site for the long stay. This is Melbourne and not something Francais. We're building a tower with singing girl power. We're crazy in love with...

ABEBE: Beyonce.

SAGAL: Beyonce yes.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: An Australian architecture firm, who won the bid to design a new skyscraper in Melbourne, say the building is modeled after Beyonce - the shape of the building. The singer, of course, is famous for her undulating curves and for the rotating restaurant at the top of her head.

(LAUGHTER)

PETER GROSZ: I want to just go to Melbourne and put on "Single Ladies" and watch the building do that cool dance.

SAGAL: Yeah. Here is your last limerick.

KURTIS: A new kind of spy story dawned since Dr. No sang, not just yawned. Emotions are spillin' from all of the villains in musicals based on James...

ABEBE: Bond.

KURTIS: Bond it is.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

SAGAL: Yes. James Bond. Very good. Producer Merry Saltzman who, by the way, his name sounds like something you'd say to Jews on Christmas - Merry Saltzman. That's his name Merry Saltzman. He's acquired the rights to "James Bond: The Musical." In it, James Bond will face his most dangerous enemy ever - half-priced Wednesday matinee audiences.

(LAUGHTER)

SAGAL: Bill, how did Lalu do?

KURTIS: Couldn't be more perfect. Lalu, you got three and oh.

SAGAL: Congratulations. Well done. Thank you so much for playing.

ABEBE: Thank you.

SAGAL: Bye-bye.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.