Use The Force

Transcript

JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: From NPR and WNYC, live from The Bell House in beautiful Brooklyn, N.Y., it's NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and trivia, ASK ME ANOTHER. Here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg.

(APPLAUSE)

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

Thank you, Jonathan. You know our VIP from your childhood, starring in one of the longest-running kids shows of all time, a show that started with a question that never got answered - can you tell me how to get, how to get to "Sesame Street?" And we still don't know. Kids have been asking this question every day for decades, and they have been completely ignored. Well, let me tell you something. That ends right now because we've got the woman on our show who can tell us and we're going to get it out of her once and for all.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SESAME STREET THEME")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) Sunny day keeping the clouds away...

EISENBERG: You know her as Maria from "Sesame Street." Our VIP is Sonia Manzano.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SESAME STREET THEME")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, singing) ...How to get to "Sesame Street," how to get to "Sesame Street?"

EISENBERG: Let's welcome our first two contestants to the stage for a game called Use The Force, Steve Rawinski (ph) and Dan Rodriguez (ph).

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Steve, you work for the electric company.

STEVE RAWINSKI: One of them, yes. I keep the lights on, yes.

EISENBERG: You keep the lights on?

RAWINSKI: Yes, you're welcome.

EISENBERG: Did you watch "The Electric Company" growing up, by the way?

RAWINSKI: No.

EISENBERG: No?

RAWINSKI: No, I did not.

EISENBERG: Whoa, people are - yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

RAWINSKI: I think I'm too young.

EISENBERG: Oh, yeah. I can't believe you made two crucial mistakes in a row.

(LAUGHTER)

RAWINSKI: Bring it on. OK.

EISENBERG: Dan works in financial crime software. What kind of criminals are we targeting in this case?

DAN RODRIGUEZ: You know, your mobsters, your terrorists.

EISENBERG: OK, so not the financial industry.

(LAUGHTER)

RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, no.

EISENBERG: We're going to be talking a lot about puppets and Muppets in this show, and we're going to start with one that is 900 years old. That's right. We're going to be talking about Yoda. So in this game, we want you to use the force and complete his famous phrase - (imitating Yoda) do or do not there is no try - but with a good Yoda voice.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: That was...

COULTON: That was an eerie impression. It felt like Yoda was in the room with us.

EISENBERG: Like Yoda's younger sister's friends.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: And all of your answers are going to rhyme with try. So let's go to our house musician, Jonathan Coulton, "Star Wars" impressionist extraordinaire.

COULTON: Oh, jeez, high expectations. If we said I'm out of a specific type of whiskey, drink or drink not, you would reply (imitating Yoda) there is no rye.

(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)

COULTON: Thank you. Thank you very much.

EISENBERG: So remember, all the answers are going to rhyme with try. And the winner will move on to our final round at the end of the show. However your Yoda impression works out is fine, but give it a shot.

These miniature trees from Japan are not here, prune or prune not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Steve.

RAWINSKI: There is no bonsai.

EISENBERG: But where's my Yoda?

RAWINSKI: There are no bonsai?

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: No, no - you said it - no, you said it right. No, I'm sorry.

RAWINSKI: Was it a grammar thing?

COULTON: Yoda was a famous grammar stickler.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: No, you answered correctly. I just wanted your Yoda impression.

RAWINSKI: (Imitating Yoda) There is no bonsai.

EISENBERG: There we go.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Correct. The educator and television host who is nicknamed the Science Guy has retired, experiment or experiment not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Dan.

RODRIGUEZ: (Imitating Yoda) There is no Bill Nye.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Correct. And if you're just tuning in now, don't worry, don't freak out. Bill Nye is fine. These books about Southern California identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield have disappeared, read or read not...

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Yeah, very unlikely, very unlikely,

RODRIGUEZ: I got nothing.

EISENBERG: Let's go to our puzzle guru Art Chung. Maybe he has a hint that can lead you down the path.

ART CHUNG, BYLINE: These books were named after the school that these characters attended.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Dan.

RODRIGUEZ: (Imitating Yoda) There is no Teenager High.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: I like the idea that all teenagers go to Teenager High.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: Steve, you have an answer?

RAWINSKI: (Imitating Yoda) There is no Sweet Valley High.

EISENBERG: Yeah.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Now you admit you read them. This Australian soft-rock duo from the '80s is all out of love, sing or sing not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Dan.

RODRIGUEZ: (Imitating Yoda) There is no air supply.

EISENBERG: That's right.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: This independent sultanate on the coast of Borneo has been wiped off the map, visit or visit not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Dan.

RODRIGUEZ: (Imitating Yoda) There is no Brunei?

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Inquisitive Yoda, you are correct.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: We've run out of the Indian black tea with fancy spices, sip or sip not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Dan.

RODRIGUEZ: (Imitating Yoda) There is no chai.

EISENBERG: Yeah, you're going to start a riot at Starbucks, but you're correct.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: Chai latte is not a real thing.

EISENBERG: Wait a second, wait a second, chai latte is not a real thing?

COULTON: Yeah, my wife is Indian. She's going to set you straight here.

EISENBERG: Yeah?

CHUNG: Chai is chai.

EISENBERG: Chai is chai. Chai is just tea.

COULTON: Yeah.

EISENBERG: Yeah, chai latte, what is that?

COULTON: Marketing.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: No one knows the rules for this ballgame played with a cesta on a three-walled court, play or play not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Steve.

RAWINSKI: (Imitating Yoda) There is no jai alai.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Correct. This is your last clue. I do not recognize this federal holiday on which both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson passed away, celebrate or celebrate not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Steve.

RAWINSKI: There is no Fourth of July.

EISENBERG: That is correct.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: I think it's a weird coincidence that everyone that signed that Declaration of Independence is dead.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Let's go to our puzzle guru, Art Chung.

CHUNG: We have a tie, Ophira.

EISENBERG: What?

(APPLAUSE)

CHUNG: Hands on your buzzers. I cannot bake this tart dessert associated with Florida, eat or eat not...

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

CHUNG: Dan.

RODRIGUEZ: (Imitating Yoda) There is no key lime - key lime pie.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: That is correct. You're our winner. Congratulations.

(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.