JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: This is ASK ME ANOTHER, NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and being recognized for excellence by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. I'm Jonathan Coulton. Here's your host, Ophira Eisenberg.
OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Thank you, Jonathan. I'd also like to thank the Academy.
COULTON: (Laughter).
EISENBERG: We're playing games with Emmy nominees William Jackson Harper from NBC's "The Good Place" and Yvonne Orji from HBO's "Insecure." William, Yvonne, are you ready to team up for another game?
YVONNE ORJI: Yes, because that...
WILLIAM JACKSON HARPER: Yes.
ORJI: That one had me hot a little bit. I was like, I'm nervous.
HARPER: Oh, yeah. I was only wearing this black T-shirt right now because I don't want to be damp for the next thing I'm going to do...
(LAUGHTER)
HARPER: ...And have everybody see it.
EISENBERG: Zoom damp is like a very, very deep damp.
COULTON: Not a good look.
HARPER: It's like, yeah. You should not be this worried in your house. But you are.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: You are.
COULTON: Right (laughter).
HARPER: Yeah.
EISENBERG: So in this game, you are going to replace the first syllable of famous monuments or landmarks with a rhyming word.
ORJI: OK.
COULTON: So let me give you an example.
HARPER: OK.
COULTON: If I said the British monarch lives in this London royal residence along with a bird with webbed feet that floats on water, you would answer Duckingham Palace, changing the first syllable of Buckingham to duck.
ORJI: Would Cluckingham also work?
EISENBERG: I'd take it. I'd take it.
COULTON: I would probably accept it. We're pretty easy.
(LAUGHTER)
HARPER: All right.
EISENBERG: All right. This seaside building in Australia's largest city is topped with rows of sail-shaped concrete shells. If you use your two legs, six arms and two tentacles to stash up tickets, you can go see the all-calamari rendition of "Carmen" before it sells out.
ORJI: I'm going to phone a friend, William. I'm phoning you.
HARPER: Oh. Oh, lord. OK.
EISENBERG: So what do you have for largest city in Australia?
HARPER: I have Sydney.
EISENBERG: Great. And then what's the most...
HARPER: Yes.
EISENBERG: ...Obvious arts center?
ORJI: The opera house - the Sydney Opera House?
HARPER: Oh, Squid-ney Opera House?
EISENBERG: Yes. Yes.
COULTON: Yes.
HARPER: Hey.
EISENBERG: That's right. That's right.
HARPER: Squid - yeah. No. You almost got me. I was just like...
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
HARPER: ...Tarantula-ney Opera House?
COULTON: (Laughter).
EISENBERG: That's good.
COULTON: Tarantula opera house.
ORJI: Ask me another. Ask me another.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: Yeah. OK. Here's another one. Think you're gassy? Well, this medieval structure in Italy got its signature tilt from being stuffed with too many of these legumes, including cannellini, fava and pinto.
EISENBERG: Leaning - it's the leaning tower, right?
HARPER: Yeah.
COULTON: Right.
ORJI: The Beany tower (laughter)?
COULTON: That is correct, The Beaning Tower of Pisa. You got it.
EISENBERG: Yeah, that's right.
ORJI: OK. Yay. I like this game.
EISENBERG: All right. Here's your next one. Although we don't know the exact significance of this prehistoric circular structure in England, many archaeologists speculate that it was built to honor these celebrities who all have the same first name - Ms. Rivers, Jett, Cusack, Crawford, Didion and of Arc.
HARPER: Joan-henge.
EISENBERG: Joan-henge.
HARPER: That felt so good.
COULTON: (Laughter) Right in the pocket there.
HARPER: That one felt good.
COULTON: All right. Here's another one. I find this one hard. We'll see if you can get it.
ORJI: Uh-oh.
COULTON: This site of ancient Inca ruins in Peru was excavated in the early 1900s. Archaeologists found skeletons, dwellings along with the famous undergarment Katy Perry used to launch whipped cream.
HARPER: Oh, OK.
COULTON: You can talk it out if you have the pieces.
HARPER: Machu Picchu, right?
COULTON: So far, so good.
ORJI: Whipped cream.
COULTON: We're looking for an undergarment.
HARPER: Oh, bra - bra-chu Picchu.
COULTON: (Laughter) Bra-chu Picchu. That is right.
HARPER: Lord, I feel like y'all owe me a dollar for that one.
EISENBERG: That answer is the reason this game is here. I'm just saying.
(LAUGHTER)
ORJI: I'm slightly judging you, William. I have more questions than you have answers.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: All right. We have one more. This 13,000-mile-long ancient landmark was one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken. With sweeping views of the countryside, it is the perfect place to film TikToks of you riding on shoes with four wheels.
ORJI: The Wall of China?
HARPER: Skate Wall of China.
EISENBERG: Yes. Oh, that was a beautiful collaboration.
COULTON: That was a team effort. I love it.
EISENBERG: That was perfect.
ORJI: William, this is your game. Like, forget Taboo. We're going to come over to his house. And it's going to be like, ask me another. It's like, wait. What are you talking about?
(LAUGHTER)
HARPER: Look. You ask me a bunch of nonsense. I will give you nonsense back (laughter).
EISENBERG: Just remember Bra-chu Picchu.
ORJI: Bra-chu.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: That's all I need to say. That's all I need to say to you. That was so much fun. Thank you so much, William Jackson Harper. Thank you so much. It's so nice meeting you, Yvonne Orji.
ORJI: Thank you.
HARPER: Thank you.
ORJI: Thank you, guys. This was a lot of fun.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2020 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.