If you're a fan of NPR's popular gameshow "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" you're probably familiar with stand-up comic Alonzo Bodden, who is a regular panelist on the program.
If you thought Bodden was on his way to town for ‘Wait Wait's’ live show at Blossom Music Center in July you’re sadly mistaken.
He won't be in town for that appearance, in part, because Bodden's coming to Cleveland twice in June for two very different performances.
Bodden brings the iconic game show "Family Feud" to Playhouse Square Friday with a live performance that gets the audience involved.
Working as the host, Bodden loves the interplay onstage with audience contestants as he asks questions in typical “Family Feud” fashion.
"We surveyed 100 married women and the question was: 'What do you do when you have a cheating husband and you find out he's a cheater?' We had an 87-year old woman in a wheelchair and her answer was, 'you beat his ass!’" Bodden said.
Bodden believes his work as a stand-up comic has prepared him for the role of gameshow host. Later this month he has a series of shows at Hilarities in Cleveland.
"Comedy club work prepared me for audience work with people who might say anything," he said.
The challenge for his stand-up routine is trying to come up with jokes that are funnier than the world we currently live in.
"That comes closer and closer to impossible," he said, because of the current political climate. "We live in a time where anything might happen on any given day from real issues to the most ridiculous."
Bodden will miss being part of the local appearance of Peter Sagal and the "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" team next month.
"We don't know what the questions are going to be. I don't know what they're going to ask. I don't know what the other panelists are going to say. We just have a blast doing the show," he said.
Alonzo Bodden hosts " Family Feud Live" Friday at Playhouse Square and appears at Hilarities June 20 - 23.
