You know Alonzo Bodden as a regular guest on NPR’s news quiz show, Wait Wait! Don’t Tell Me. But did you know he’s also a Nevadan?
Last year, the comedian moved from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for a change of pace. Not that he’s always hanging out at the neighborhood bar or anything — besides his appearances on Wait Wait, he’s constantly doing standup at venues around the country. In fact, Bodden's got a homecoming run of dates November 17 through 23 at the Comedy Cellar at the Rio.
And during his conversation with KNPR's Mike Prevatt, he's got no shortage of observational witticisms for his various gigs:
On Vegas drivers: "The drivers, they're kind of fascinating, how bad some people drive. ... One day I saw a truck just pull out of a driveway, and it was a right-turn only, so he just drove over the median and made a left. And I was like, oh, so we just making our own rules."
On jokes and the unrelenting news cycle: "The ridiculous stuff happens so fast. You could be writing a joke about something {President] Trump said, and he will say something else. Then we have [Secretary of Homeland Security] Kristi Noem, [Secretary of Health and Human Services] RFK, and ... people say it's comedy gold. No, it's comedy mud. You're buried in. It is so much of it, and you have to figure out what's funny, what you're going to say. During the first Trump administration, they actually came up with a rule on Wait, Wait: only one Trump joke per show, because [otherwise], the whole show would have been just that."
On what the press should be asking the powers that be: "Donald Trump's ear grew back. We're still trying to figure out, how did the ear grow? Evander Holyfield deserves to know how you grow back an ear."
On politicians on the left: "The Democrats completely disappearing is funny. There is nobody who can surrender in a fight quicker than the Democratic Party. It is amazing. You pick a fight, they'll lay down."
Alonzo Bodden, comedian, panelist for Wait Wait! Don’t Tell Me
