BILL KURTIS: From NPR and WBEZ Chicago, this is WAIT WAIT... DON'T TELL ME, the NPR news quiz. I'm Bill Kurtis. We are playing this week with Luke Burbank, Faith Salie and Paula Poundstone. And here again is your host at the Chase Bank Auditorium in downtown Chicago, Tom Hanks.
TOM HANKS, HOST:
Thank you, Bill Kurtis with a K.
(APPLAUSE)
HANKS: Thank you, thank you. Oh, you bet you. Coming up, our Listener Limerick Challenge game. You want to play, call 1-888-WAIT-WAIT. That's 1-888-924-8924. But right now, panel, riddle me these what the hecks from all that went down this week. Religion, Faith.
FAITH SALIE: Yes.
HANKS: How about that? Faith, Faith, is a vital part of many people's lives, so we're sure a Brazilian grandmother was heartbroken to discover that the statue of St. Anthony she had been praying to every day was actually what?
SALIE: Was it - maybe you can help me by telling me was it a tiny, little, sort of action figure-sized statue?
HANKS: Oh, ding, ding, ding.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
HANKS: Thank you.
SALIE: Please tell me it was Woody from "Toy Story."
HANKS: Oh, wouldn't that be great?
(LAUGHTER)
HANKS: It was an action figure, but specifically it was a "Lord Of The Rings" action figure.
PAULA POUNDSTONE: Oh, wow.
HANKS: See, evidently, Nana Brandao had been kneeling before the figurine for years before her granddaughter pointed out that she wasn't directing her prayers to St. Anthony but to Lord Elrond, the higher elf from Rivendell, performed by my good friend Hugo Weaving in the "Lord Of The Rings" movies. And that explains why whenever it seemed like her prayers were coming to a natural end, Brandao felt compelled to make them last another 45 minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
HANKS: Brandao's granddaughter, who wrote about the mix-up in a Facebook post, said that after realizing the mistake, her nana quickly replaced the action figure with the real St. Anthony and for forgiveness, said six hail Barbies and prayed the Lord's Prayer, beginning with our Father who R2-D2. And thank you, Peter Sagal, for phoning that one in.
(LAUGHTER)
LUKE BURBANK: Wait a sec. Wait a sec. So even though he's currently off, is he ghost writing this show for you, Hanks?
HANKS: No, what happened was is this was just written in such cadence that I heard the man's spirit over my shoulder as I read it for the first time. So - and by the way, Luke, don't step on my applause again, young man.
POUNDSTONE: He never would have done that to Peter.
HANKS: Because I...
POUNDSTONE: Peter wouldn't stand for that.
HANKS: Well, how often does Peter get that kind of applause? That's my question.
(LAUGHTER)
HANKS: Whoa, whoa, oh.
(APPLAUSE)
HANKS: Oh, oh, that one hurt. All right, OK (laughter).
SALIE: Tom Hanks, you're supposed to be America's sweetheart.
HANKS: You know what? I have a dark side, and it only comes out on the radio.
POUNDSTONE: Yeah, Dark Woody.
HANKS: That's right. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.