You may have heard the buzz: "Wits" is back! "Wits" is bringing St. Vincent and Bobcat Goldthwait together for the first time! Or maybe you've seen the tweets: torrents of wry quotes and descriptions of tipsy tomfoolery that make #wits a locally trending topic once a month.

But what, exactly, is "Wits?" "Anybody who's been to the show has a feeling for what it is," says host John Moe, "but a big challenge for me has been nailing down a description of the show."

Well, let's start with the basics. "Wits" is a biweekly radio show produced by Minnesota Public Radio. It's also live entertainment: You can buy a ticket and join Moe and his guests at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul for the show's live broadcast. What exactly takes place over the course of the evening varies ... and that's part of the fun.

"Tony Bol, who runs events at MPR, had the idea to give humor some respect," remembers Moe about the show's 2010 genesis. "That's how 'Wits' was originally conceived: Humorous authors could talk and shed some light on their work. Then it evolved, bringing in more musicians -- it became a classic variety show, but for a new and younger audience."

For each of the spring season's seven episodes, "Wits" will bring two guests onstage at the Fitz: one talker and one singer, though the singers will do their share of talking, as well. The season kicks off Friday with "Saturday Night Live" alum Tim Meadows along with Rhett Miller of the Old 97's, and wraps up June 30 with a special supersized episode starring comic Amy Sedaris and nerd-pop legends They Might Be Giants. (See sidebar for the season's complete lineup.)

Moe begins each episode with a personal story to introduce the episode's theme, then welcomes the show's nonmusical guest onstage for a freewheeling interview. At some point the musical guest joins the action, performing with the show's music director, John Munson (best known as the bassist for Semisonic and the New Standards), and a three-piece band known as the Witnesses. By the time each episode is finished, there have typically been silly games, a chat with an additional call-in guest and banter with "the box dwellers": "Mystery Science Theater 3000" alums Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett.

Margaret Andrews, Star Tribune
"Our goal is to make a smart and funny show," says "Wits" host John Moe, right, with music director John Munson

It's all a little ridiculous, but the show's loose and lively format allows for the kind of spontaneous fun and unexpected insights you don't get on, say, "Charlie Rose." "Our goal," says Moe, "is simply to find people who are smart and funny, and make a smart and funny show."

An archived audio stream and video clips from each episode are posted online. "Last year one of our most viral videos was when Adam Savage from 'Mythbusters' called in and performed Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive' in the voice of Gollum from 'Lord of the Rings,'" says Moe.

Other highlights of past seasons included appearances by Neil Gaiman (a devout "Wits" fan, he's been on the show repeatedly), Chuck Klosterman, Craig Finn (who debuted songs from his recent solo album) and Rosanne Cash. "That was an uber-thrill for me," says Munson about Cash's appearance. "You feel like you're touching a piece of music history."

"There have been all these moments of surprise," says Moe, "like when singer/songwriter Josh Ritter turned out to have this killer comic mind that's not often called upon, and the moment in our first season when John Hodgman compelled me to lie down on the ground. I thought he was going to lie down with me, but he just left me there and dangled a mike over my head."

The show is meant to be a social experience for attendees. MPR cultivates a party-like atmosphere by hosting a happy hour in the Fitzgerald lobby before each episode, by forgoing assigned seating so that audience members can move around at will, and by encouraging everyone to tweet like mad. "It's all part of the fun," says Moe, "and [Twitter] makes it a global experience."

Hosting a live variety show on the fly before a boozed-up audience has not been without its hiccups -- literal and otherwise. Munson remembers an episode when he and the band were having a hard time nailing a newly written vibraphone theme.

"It happened to be a night when they'd introduced a new drink with ginger ale and Jameson," explains Munson. "People were slugging those down. The crowd was wasted, and we were up there trying to play this thing we'd learned only that afternoon. Just as we finally got it right, some guy in the crowd came forth with a kind of drunken bellow -- and we had to do it all over again."

Moe describes "geeking out" as essential to the "Wits" experience and says that, as a transplant to the Twin Cities from Seattle, he was pleased to discover that Minnesotans can geek out like no others. "Nobody's too cool for school," he says. "There's so much to get excited about, and people are just dorked about it. I love that."

'Wits' 2012 season preview

MARCH 30: TIM MEADOWS AND RHETT MILLER

Meadows of "SNL" will appear with Miller of alt-country rockers the Old 97's. "I think Rhett's still stinging a little bit from the defeat Semisonic handed the Old 97's when we played a show together in Wisconsin in the mid-'90s," jokes John Munson.

APRIL 13: ANDY RICHTER AND REGGIE WATTS

"I love watching Andy on 'Conan,'" says John Moe. "Unlike on NBC, on cable he's been totally freed up." Watts is an improvisational comedian and beat-boxer, so Munson and the Witnesses are preparing to field some curveballs.

APRIL 27: FRED WILLARD AND DAN WILSON

Willard is widely known for his appearances in Christopher Guest's mockumentaries like "Waiting for Guffman" and "Best in Show," and Wilson (Munson's Semisonic bandmate) is riding high on his songwriting collaborations with Adele. "That episode should be a gimme," says Munson.

MAY 11: PAUL F. TOMPKINS AND AIMEE MANN

Tompkins is no stranger to streaming: His "Pod F. Tompkast" was recently named the top comedy podcast by Rolling Stone. Singer/songwriter Mann is "a double threat" as a musician and comedienne, says Moe. "She makes this beautiful music, and she was just on 'Portlandia' playing herself, forced to work as a house cleaner because of file sharing."

JUNE 1: WYATT CENAC AND TED LEO

"When you're talking about what's happening in comedy today," says Moe, "you can't ignore 'The Daily Show.'" Cenac is a "Daily Show" correspondent, and Leo will be leaving his band the Pharmacists behind for a solo appearance.

JUNE 15: BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT AND ST. VINCENT

In what may be the oddest pairing on any Minnesota stage in 2012, "Wits" will feature Goldthwait, the comedian who became famous in the '80s for his outlandish persona, and Annie Clark, who as indie-rocker St. Vincent is a critical darling. "I have no idea what's going to happen," says Munson.

JUNE 30: AMY SEDARIS AND THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS

Moe promises "more music, more show, more spectacle" for the finale, featuring comic/actress/author Sedaris and two more Johns: Flansburgh and Linnell of TMBG. "If you're looking for smart and funny musicians with a strong nerd streak," says Moe, "they've been the flag-bearers since I spun 'Don't Let's Start' [1986] back on college radio."

WITS

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