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Peter Sagal
Hey, guys, it's Peter. Once again in your Wait Wait feed. I am so pleased to present to you another episode of how to Do Everything by Wait Wait. Producers Ian and Mike. Now remember, you can only get these episodes of how to Do Everything in our feed for a short while. So if you love the kind of mysteries that Mike and Ian are revealing, make sure you subscribe to how to Do Everything at their own feed. Thanks.
Ian
So I was playing the song Bye Bye Birdie for my kid.
Mike
You know the song from the musical Bye Bye Birdie?
Ian
Yeah. I was playing the original cast recording with Ann Margret.
Mike
Okay.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Bye bye bir he.
Ian
So my daughter, she got really into it. She wanted to hear it again and again. And then I heard her singing it to herself.
Mike
Uhhuh.
Ian
And she was singing Bye bye bur he.
Mike
Okay, okay.
Ian
And I was like, what? Why are you. Why, It's Bye bye Birdie. Why are you singing Bye bye bur He. And she's. She was like, that's what the song says. And so we listen back. Listen to this.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Bye bye bye.
Peter Sagal
Right?
Ian
Sure enough, she sings through the whole song, right? The song called Bye Bye Birdie. She sings Bye bye bur he for the whole song.
Mike
How has that gone unnoticed before? Is it. Is it just the power of the title, like, overwhelms the sub? You're like, oh, I guess. Yeah, I hear it. That's right. Birdie.
Ian
I don't like. I don't get it. I feel like maybe it's like a thing where it's, like, easier to sing that way. So really, there's no choice but to call Ann Margaret, who sang the song 60 years ago.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Hello?
Mike
Hello, Ann Margaret?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yes, that's me.
Mike
How are you?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
I feel great. What are you guys up to? Your neck?
Ian
That's right. That's about right. Well, Ann Margaret, we wanted to ask you. My daughter discovered that in Bye Bye Birdie, you sing Bye bye bur he instead of birdie. And I was just wondering, where does that come from?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
From me. That's interesting that she would get it.
Ian
Yeah. So why that choice? It's interesting. Does it make it easier to sing or what?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
It's just my quirk. That's just the way I hear it.
Mike
Oh, funny.
Ian
Did anyone else ever ask you about it?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
No, never.
Jordan Litzy
After all these years What a mystery.
Mike
We'Ve uncovered and solved all in one conversation.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
I know. Birdie. Actually, I say the D, but I say it with heat. Birdie. Was he behind it?
Mike
You still got it. You still got it. We can hear it right there. Good.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
I'm so glad.
Ian
This is how to do everything. I'm Ian.
Mike
And I'm Mike. On today's show, how to Shave youe Chest.
Ian
But first, almost 60,000 people completed the New York City Marathon last weekend. And on the line with us now is one of those runners, Jordan Litzy.
Mike
So, Jordan, why don't you tell us what you did after the race?
Jordan Litzy
Well, I ran the New York City Marathon and then I proceeded to perform Fiero and Wicked on Broadway. Twice.
Mike
Twice?
Jordan Litzy
Yes. I finished the race about 12:50 and then our half hour call for the show was 1:30. So I did a little press at the finish line and then walked straight to the theater, got into my shower, tried to loosen up as best I could, and then walked on Wicked.
Ian
Wow, that is amazing. I.
Jordan Litzy
It was wild.
Ian
I've run a marathon and the thing I wanted to do after running a marathon is absolutely nothing. Like, I couldn't imagine moving, let alone moving in front of people. And you were. I guess you were dancing, right?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yeah.
Jordan Litzy
I mean, yes, Hero. His title song is Dancing Through Life. So, you know, you're dancing around, you're leading the students and teaching them dance moves, climbing on statues, jump, jumping off the statue.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Look foolish.
Mike
Mindless and careless to your.
Ian
What was the point in the either performance where you were most aware of the marathon in your body?
Jordan Litzy
There are two pretty big moments for me where I become hyper aware of any residual effects from running or just how my body's feeling that day, not from running. One is kneeling and singing as long as you're mine for five, six minutes. Just for some reason, having the compression on your knees and your ankles and your quads for that long and then having to try and stand up after you've been kneeling for so long is always a gut check. That moment I was like, okay, am I going to be able to be able to stand up? And fortunately it was totally fine. I didn't even think about it. And then the other one was swinging in on the rope because that was the only super high impact moment of the show. A lot of, you know, there's a lot of dance steps, there's a lot of running up and down stairs, there's a lot of jumping and, and things like that. But that one was the one that I was thinking if I'M going to get injured and I'm going to snap an Achilles tendon right now. It's going to be this moment. So, you know, I just tried to swing in and land as gently as I could and absorb the landing. And I think even the guards were watching me come in and hoping and praying that I was going to be just fine. And fortunately, it worked out just fine.
Mike
Is it possible, Jordan, that if you'd been kneeling for five minutes or whatever and you couldn't get up, that you could have figured out how to make it make sense that your character just sits down on the ground from that point on?
Jordan Litzy
There's no way. There's absolutely no way. Because, I mean, the rest of the scene is me, like, trying to get Elphaba to safety. You know, I'm telling her, like, you gotta go to my castle in Keamico. You'll be safe there. And then at the end of the scene, this cyclone comes and whips me up and it goes into a blackout. So, I mean, there's. I can't even imagine how embarrassing that would be. I don't know what I would do.
Mike
There's no way, is it. I can imagine that. It's hard to get excited for a Sunday where you're doing two shows, like, for a Sunday matinee. What's it like then for that second show after you've kind of come off the post marathon high, then you still have to do a whole nother run?
Jordan Litzy
Yeah, I mean, I've always said that Sunday matinee is my least favorite show of the week. You're just kind of. You're almost at the finish line, but you're not quite there, and you're feeling really fatigued. It's the seventh show of the week. You just did a double the day before, so it's already a tough show anyway. And then you throw 26.2 miles on top of that. Yeah, and. And that just makes it really pretty grueling. But, yeah, you're right, the adrenaline was. Had completely worn off at that point. My wife and daughter came to hang out with me in between shows, and we just, you know, chilled in the dressing room. I, you know, played with my daughter, put my legs up on the wall, tried to drain the blood out of them, to kind of reset the system. And then I think maybe because the adrenaline had worn off, and I knew that it was the last show of the week and the last little hurdle that I had to get over. It was one of the best shows I've had in weeks.
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Jordan Litzy
To be honest.
Mike
Really?
Jordan Litzy
Yeah, I was just, I was free to just give whatever I had left in the tank. I finished, I finished Dancing Through Life and I was like, that's a darn good performance. I'm so happy with that. So yeah, I mean, maybe I need to, I need to run a marathon before every, every two show day.
Mike
There you go folks.
Ian
Yeah, you got a PR in Wicked Exact.
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Peter Sagal
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Ian
Hey, if you've got a question that we can help you get to the bottom of, get it to us@howtopr.org maybe.
Mike
You encountered something that's 60 years old and no one has thought of in a very long time and you want us to delve into it to look a little deeper. We're gonna help you out. Just send it to us@howtopr.org I feel.
Ian
Like your tone there insulted my daughter's childlike curiosity, and I don't like it.
Mike
Not at all. Not at all. To you and your family, I have nothing but respect. Hey, Sarah and Jacob, what can we help you with?
Jordan Litzy
My question is, when I'm shaving my chest, I've got. I'm pretty hairy. I want to make sure I get everything, but then I just don't know really when to stop. Right. You got. You got the abs and up through the pecs and stuff. But how far do I need to go over my shoulders? I'm not going to shave all the way down my arm. I mean, that was just something I was thinking about.
Mike
Huh.
Ian
Yeah, I guess. I guess if someone did have abs and pecs, that would. That would be a concern.
Jordan Litzy
Yeah.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
So Jacob is very fit, he's very in shape, and he works hard. And I think I kind of tactfully suggested to him a few years ago that he might consider shaving his chest just to show off all his hard work and effort. So now it's a part of the routine, but he's just not sure. Where do you stop when shaving? Is there a proper protocol?
Ian
I feel that this feels like a very personal question, but. So if you are Jacob, unshaven, are we talking about a pretty thick coat from over the shoulders and down the back, is it?
Jordan Litzy
Luckily for me, it's not all the way down the back, but definitely my entire front is a thick coat.
Mike
Entire front. Do you have a beard?
Jordan Litzy
I don't maintain a beard. I try to shave my face and my. And my stomach regularly. Chest area.
Mike
Okay, so if we visualize you now when you've shaved your chest, shoulders, abs, does it look like you're wearing a flesh colored sweater?
Ian
A sweater vest. A flesh sweater vest. Sweater vest.
Mike
Yeah.
Jordan Litzy
That is not something that I ever imagined previously. But yeah, my arms are still hairy.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
There's also quite a process too, for the hair cleanup because you can't put it down a drain or a sink, so it has to, like, flop onto a towel on the floor and then get thrown out. It's a whole process. I just don't think we're doing it correctly.
Ian
Yeah, sounds like maybe a pet spa would be.
Mike
Oh, that's interesting. Yeah, that's a great idea. Like a dog groomer.
Ian
Yeah, they have all the equipment.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Hi, my name's Crystal Murray, hyphenate class, and I am a professional dog handler. And so we go to dog shows every weekend and we have the fortunate job of showing beautiful standard poodles. We showed a very exceptional standard poodle named Ciba and she won the very prestigious Westminster Kennel Club.
Ian
And you groomed Ciba for that win, for that performance?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Absolutely, yep.
Mike
What could you describe? Siba? What. What Siba looks like. Is Siba a she or how do we.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Sheba is a. She is a black standard poodle, female.
Ian
And this is if for someone who doesn't, isn't maybe that versed in, in how show showing dogs works, this is the sort of poodle that we imagine when we imagine kind of the fancy poodle with the. The kind of balls at the feet and the big pompadour.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yep. So actually, what I used to. What I like to tell people is, so Germany kind of developed the breed, but then the French got them. That's why we have what we have today.
Mike
Is that right? So, wait, what did they look like before. Before France got involved?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
A little saggy, a little. A little less pretty, more working, less, you know, pampered pet kind of thing.
Ian
Can I ask, actually, like I just said, the little balls at their feet, what is the term for that when you actually know what you're talking about? Yeah.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
So actually, I can give you a super quick rundown on it. Those little balls are called their bracelets. The ones that they have over their hips are called their hip rosettes. And then the tail is usually just a tail pom pom type thing. So they've got their four bracelets, the hip rosettes, the body we usually call a pack, and then they literally have a top knot.
Mike
A top knot?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yeah. So, like, obviously back in the day, they would have just tied the hair on top of their head into a knot so it didn't get into their eyes. And now we do it with elastics and hairspray and it's quite, quite a deal.
Ian
So as, as you heard, we got this call from Sarah and Jacob. Jacob, I think, is to men what Siba is to poodles. He's A. He is, as we understand, a perfect specimen, but he is. He's very hairy, so he's not able to fully show off the definition that he has worked so hard to achieve. Using your expertise from the world of poodle grooming, what would your advice for Jacob be?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Well, there's a couple different things you can do. I mean, we. If you really want to see any of, like, the sculpting, chiseling, contours kind of like that, you would want a really short blade. You know, we. With the poodles, we can clipper them at different lengths so you get that different. Different effects there.
Ian
So wait, if I understand, it could be possible to sort of not do a complete hair removal, but actually use some hair remaining to do a little contouring, maybe add some shadow to the abs and pecs and actually enhance what Jacob is working with there, muscle wise?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yes, absolutely.
Mike
Oh, wait, does Siba have abs?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Well, not really. She had a litter of puppies, so she's got a mom's body now.
Mike
Good for her.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
So, yeah, you can almost create kind of like some shadowing or whatever.
Ian
Can I ask, so when you're at a competition, a show, are you, like, backstage doing it right before they go on, or is it.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yep, yep. There's a whole grooming area for all the different competitors and their dogs.
Ian
Are you nervous back there in that kind of final groom?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Sometimes. I mean, the regular shows, it's just kind of a routine thing for the show, like Westminster that we did. I was a wreck.
Mike
What's the vibe like back there? Is it pretty competitive? Like, do you see all the other dogs?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
It's. Yeah, you can see all the other dogs. It's competitive because, you know, you're competing against people from really all over the world. And it's nerve wracking because if you screw up, it's like you have no one to blame but yourself. Right?
Mike
Yeah.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
So it's a lot.
Mike
So. But do you see another dog back there? And you're like, oh, that topknot is phenomenal.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Absolutely.
Mike
Really?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yeah, yeah, we totally do that.
Mike
Really?
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
It's like, oh, did you see? We're like, oh, did you see? She must have been really nervous. She just trimmed all the hair off.
Mike
Oh, no. Yeah. Okay. So you could tell, like, oh, they're not gonna make it.
Ann-Margret / Crystal Murray
Yeah.
Mike
Well, that does it for this week's show. What'd you learn, Ian?
Ian
It's weird how much Broadway we ended up with in today's show.
Mike
Oh, yeah, I did.
Ian
I had no intention of this happening. But we started with Ann, Margaret and Bye Bye Birdie, one of the classics. Talked to Jordan, who's currently starring in.
Mike
Wicked on Broadway, and Jacob was super hairy, which is like the musical Hair.
Ian
I learned that maybe the best way to recover from a marathon is to dance for three hours, take a short break, and then dance for another three hours.
Mike
Yeah, in front of people. Not dance like no one's watching. Dance like people have paid hundreds of dollars to come see you dance. I will say, I think we got a satisfying result from the Bye Bye Birdie question. Right. Like we went into it not knowing exactly what was going on and talking to Ann Margret, she basically confirmed that's how she did it.
Ian
What if we listen back to all the great Broadway songs and it turns out every D is an H?
Mike
If this is true, do you think Hamilton is actually Damilton?
Ian
How to Do Everything is produced by Skyler Swenson with Hina Shrivastava.
Mike
Technical direction from Lorna White. We did use music this week, I believe, from Moby Gratis.
Ian
You can get us your questions@howtopr.org I'm Ian.
Mike
And I'm Mike.
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Mike
Thanks.
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Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Peter Sagal
Producers: Ian and Mike
Featured Guests: Ann-Margret (via impressionist/voice), Jordan Litzy, Crystal Murray
This lively episode of "How To Do Everything" (a segment from "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!") dives into the enchanting worlds of Broadway musicals, marathon performances, and competitive dog grooming. The team uncovers a quirky mystery in a classic musical, interviews a Broadway star who ran a marathon and performed on the same day, and enlists a professional dog handler to answer a surprisingly tricky grooming question.
Ian recounts playing "Bye Bye Birdie" for his daughter, noticing she kept singing "Bye bye bur he."
They listen back and discover Ann-Margret does seem to sing "bur he" instead of "Birdie" throughout the song.
In a delightfully surreal move, the team "calls" Ann-Margret (voice impression by Crystal Murray).
Ann-Margret: "It's just my quirk. That's just the way I hear it." ([03:00])
No one had ever questioned Ann-Margret about this before, making this both a mystery and its solution in one segment.
Memorable moment:
Mike: "We’ve uncovered and solved all in one conversation." ([03:15])
Jordan Litzy, currently performing as Fiyero in Wicked, shares his experience of finishing the New York City Marathon and heading straight to do two Broadway performances.
Jordan: "I ran the New York City Marathon and then I proceeded to perform Fiyero in Wicked on Broadway. Twice." ([04:08])
Physical Challenges:
Explains the difficulty of dancing, climbing statues, and jumping onstage immediately after a marathon.
Details two tough moments: kneeling for a long song, and a high-impact rope swing.
Jordan: "Kneeling and singing for five, six minutes... then having to try and stand up after you’ve been kneeling for so long is always a gut check." ([05:24])
Jordan: "I think even the guards were watching me come in and hoping and praying that I was going to be just fine. And fortunately, it worked out just fine." ([06:41])
Second Performance:
Humorous exchange:
Mike: "So if you visualize you now when you've shaved your chest, shoulders, abs, does it look like you're wearing a flesh-colored sweater?" ([14:00])
[12:35 – 18:39]
Listener Jacob wants to know how far he should extend chest shaving to show off his physique without blending into arm or shoulder hair.
Crystal Murray, professional dog handler and poodle groomer, gives expert advice using show dog grooming analogies.
Reveals that poodle hair styling is a carefully considered mix of blade lengths and contouring for best effect.
Crystal: "If you really want to see... the sculpting, chiseling, contours... you'd want a really short blade... With the poodles, we can clipper them at different lengths so you get that different effect." ([17:38])
She suggests "shadowing" body hair to enhance muscle definition, much like competitive grooming.
Crystal: "You can almost create some shadowing or whatever." ([18:34])
Explains poodle grooming terms: bracelets, hip rosettes, top knots, pack, and tail pom-poms.
Crystal: "Those little balls are called their bracelets. The ones that they have over their hips are called their hip rosettes. The body we usually call a pack, and then they literally have a top knot." ([16:26])
Lighthearted brainstorming:
Should people just get themselves groomed at pet spas?
Stage grooming is as tense as backstage at Westminster.
Crystal: "It's nerve wracking because if you screw up, it's like you have no one to blame but yourself." ([19:14])
The hosts marvel at how much accidental Broadway content filled the episode—from Ann-Margret to Wicked to hairy bodies (and the musical Hair).
Ian muses on marathon recovery:
Ian: "Maybe the best way to recover from a marathon is to dance for three hours, take a short break, and then dance for another three hours." ([20:20])
The episode closes with good humor and self-aware silliness:
Mike: "Dance like people have paid hundreds of dollars to come see you dance." ([20:32]) Ian: "What if we listen back to all the great Broadway songs and it turns out every D is an H?" ([20:54])
For questions, mysteries, or conundrums you want solved, email the How To Do Everything team at howtopr.org.