​On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is Matt Walsh, best known for his role as the press secretary on Veep.  However, in Chicago he co-founded the Upright Citizens Bridge improv group with Amy Poehler.  It's a fun conversation, as he talks about how the troupe would occasionally take the full audience out onto the street (and what would go wrong), discusses his love of Chicago sports, and also, of course, has a bit on Veep.  Worth noting is that the quiz part on on sportscasting gaffes, and the third question concerns Chicago Cubs legend Ron Santo -- and though Walsh is a Chicago sports fan, he recognizes that those in the Chicago theater audience there (like those of us who regularly listen to Cubs games) appear to know better than he does, so the question is will he defer to them.
 
This the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts around the 19:00 mark.

The other day, I was listening to Sirius/XM radio in my car, and came across a song I’d never heard before from a musical I was only slightly aware of, called NEWSical.
 
The show was a very long-running revue off-Broadway (I was boggled by how long) – marking over 3,000 performances, which is around nine years.  It still plays around the country, and was even settled in Las Vegas for a while.  (For all I know, it’s still there.)
 
The show lampoons news events, and as such has kept changing over the years, being updated.  And occasionally had guest stars making an appearance, among then Andrea McArdle (the original Annie), SNL’s Cheri Oteri, Emmy-winner Jackée and LaToya Jackson.  One of NEWSical’s original stars was Chistine Pedi, who’s a friend of my pal Mark Evanier – and people who read his site have likely seen him post some of her work.  The show was written by Rick Crom, and got two Drama Desk nominations in 2011, for Outstanding Revue and Outstanding Lyrics.
 
It’s the latter which is what most caught my ear.  It was a song called “Dr. Phil.”  And I thought it was extremely clever.  Helped by a very good impersonation.

On this week’s ‘Not My Job’ segment of the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, the guest is actor Sean Hayes. He has a fun, lively conversation with host Peter Sagal, that covers growing up in Chicago, being music director at the Pheasant Run Dinner Theater there, and recently playing Oscar Levant at the Goodman Theatre, along with a funny Paul Lynde story. (But no, nothing about Will & Grace.)
 
This the full Wait, Wait… broadcast, but you can jump directly to the “Not My Job” segment, it starts around the 18:30 mark.

​Okay, I think I finally have got to concept figured out –
 
All it takes to stop a bad man with a gun is a good guy with a gun…
 
…as long as he is at the exact right place at the exact right time and is willing to risk his life in a shoot-out with someone who might be wearing body armor and have an assault weapon and who, as a good guy, is an extremely good shot even under a threatening situation with his own life at risk, aiming at perhaps a moving target and not hitting any innocent bystander with stray bullets, provided that any number of other good guys with guns aren’t there, as well, shooting from many other directions and not hitting anyone else in the surrounding area with the cross-fire, so that when police arrive they can figure out who the good guy with the gun is – or who the good guys also all shooting are – and who the bad guy with the gun is.
 
Got it.  I think.  That’s what gun advocates think is The Solution to gun violence in America.  Where 1-1/2 mass shootings take place every single week.  Because that’s more likely the situation that takes place when there is a shooting.
 
What also was confusing and not thought out was if there was only one good guy with a gun, safely roaming around by himself, his eyes peeled for that bad guy with a gun – or if it was an entire town of good guys with guns, everyone entitled to carry and roam around, looking for the first sign of trouble where they could all begin blasting away from wherever they are.
 
Neither scenario by itself made sense to me as being a resolution of anything, just as merely “All it takes is a good guy with a gun, without knowing more about who that good guy is, and how many good guys there are shooting into the crowd.
 
But now that I’ve figured out what the actual statement should be…then it at last makes sense.  And I finally see how truly crazy instance and pathetic the lunatic idea is as The Way to Stop Gun Violence.
 
Just to be clear –
 
Every country in the world has video games.  And violence on TV and in movies.  And mental illness.  And schools with more than one door.  And a core desire of its citizens to protect themselves and their families.  And yet only the United States has 1-1/2 mass shootings every single week.  No… other… country… in… the… world. 
 
And then throw into the mix this conundrum:  because of gun laws in all other countries, none of these other countries have good guys with guns at the ready to shoot the bad guys with guns.  And yet without having those good guys with guns – every other country still is able to manage without having 1-1/2 mass shootings each week.
 
A good guy with a gun is not the solution to gun violence in America.  Nor is having schools with just one door.  Or fewer video games.  Or only happy movies.  Or more mental health care.

By the after writing a brief posting on social media yesterday about this position of the potential of too many "good guys with guns" causing total confusion and bullets flying everywhere at innocent bystanders, I received a reply from Mark Follman, the national affairs editor at Mother Jones, an expert in the field whose latest book Trigger Points is about specialized teams of experts working to prevent mass shootings.  He wrote back, "correct. A scenario that is, unfortunately, becoming more likely."
 
The country will begin to solve gun violence in America when the U.S. sees how it works in the rest of the world.  And at the very least has fewer assault weapons on the street and stronger gun reform laws. 
 
There.  I’m glad I finally got it figured out.  It starts with hoping you're in the right place at exactly the right time -- and praying that there aren't two dozen other good guys with guns all firing in a circle at the same time creating deadly havoc.  And then builds from there...
​

A few weeks ago I finished watching the streaming series The Outlaws, made for the BBC and airing in the U.S. on Amazon Prime.  It’s co-created by Stephen Merchant (who co-created The Office) and Elgin James, with Merchant starring in the series, as well directing and writing many of the episodes. It’s really an ensemble show, though, with Merchant’s role often more in the background compared to the others, though he’s prominent.  Most of the cast is unknown to U.S. audience, though they were able to get Christopher Walken to sign on, and he’s a hoot.
 
I loved the six-part series, but it’s not for everyone.  It’s very funny, though it takes a sharp turn and is as much a drama and thriller, and also delves into the character’s lives, dealing with the personal issues they’re each dealing with separate from the main story.  So, even the characters of the group who are more the antagonists become well-rounded.  And that group is six people arrested for petty crimes who are assigned to community service.  And then the story takes that right turn…  The story takes place in Bristol, where Merchant grew up -- and where his parents were community service workers in a program similar to what's portrayed here.
 
By the way, they not only will be doing a Season Two, but it’s already been written and filmed, and has even aired already in England, so perhaps it won’t be too long before it makes its way to Amazon Prime.
 
A few weeks back, I posted a fun appearance Merchant made as the guest contestant on the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!  But thanks to Mark Miller who pointed me in the right direction, this is a much longer and even more thoroughly interesting and enjoyable interview he did on NPR’s Fresh Air – though not with its usual host Terry Gross, who introduces the interview.  Instead, Merchant talks with Fresh Air producer Sam Briger.  Merchant comes across as gracious, personable, funny and smart.  He talks about The Outlaws, The Office, working with Ricky Gervais, American and British sitcoms, and how his 6’7” height has affected his life.  It runs about 36 minutes.

On this week’s Al Franken podcast, his guest is Martin Short.  Or as Al puts it, “MARTIN SHORT!!!”  Also, before he conversation, Al gives a commentary on the Supreme Court and January 6.  The talk with Martin Short is very entertaining and funny.  But what I most like about it is that whenever I’ve seen Martin Short interviewed, he seems like he’d have a lot of interesting things to say about his career and profession but always tends to play a character and go for the jokes.  But he actually puts that aside for the interview here and (though not “serious” because it’s a funny, lively conversation) is himself, almost no shtick, making it all the more intriguing. Whether that’s because he’s friends with Franken, or a case of not playing to a TV camera, who knows?  Perhaps both, but I suspect more the latter.  In any events, it’s very good.