Former MPR show “Wits” to return for Fitzgerald Theater reunion

In 2010, Minnesota Public Radio host John Moe created “Wits,” alongside his producer Larissa Anderson and music director John Munson. For five years, the live variety show and podcast hosted authors, musicians and comedians from across the country with the simple goal of making its audience laugh.

Now, almost 10 years after its cancellation in 2015, “Wits” is returning for another one-off show at the Fitzgerald Theatre on Tuesday, Sept. 30. With Moe and Munson reuniting with longtime friend of the show Paul F. Tompkins and a surprise musical guest, it’s almost like no time has passed since they first revived the show independently in 2019.

Moe took on the role of host of “Wits” two years after moving to Minnesota in 2008, still fresh to the musical scene of the Twin Cities.

“I always saw it as, we’re throwing a party,” Moe said. “I just happened to be the one up there on stage moving things along. But we’re all at the same party together.”

Grew and evolved

In its first season, “Wits” hosted former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and author Julia Sweeney, author Neil Gaiman and actor Wil Wheaton. The show was then picked up by National Public Radio and became a trending topic on social media.

From there, the show evolved to include more sketches, games and musical performances.

These musical performances were led by Munson, who is best known as the bassist in Semisonic. He guided the musical aspect of the show, organizing and leading the musical talent through the live performances.

“Music was the thing that bound the show together, in my opinion,” Munson said.

Another force binding them together was producer Larissa Anderson, now the deputy director of the audio team at The New York Times. Anderson organized everything happening behind the scenes, spending the shows in the producer booth watching the show alongside the audience.

“I think it was just a really great group of people. From the people on stage, all the way to the engineers,” Anderson said. “Everybody was just wonderful.”

The engineering team had microphones placed throughout the audience to capture real time reactions to the show for the podcast and later broadcast.

“You could feel the energy in the room,” Anderson said. “We wanted people to feel like they were part of the show and that they were interacting.”

Canceled, not finished

Anderson left the show with its radio cancellation in 2015, but still visits when she can as an audience member. Most recently, she was able to bring her now teenage son to a performance after playing episodes for him throughout his childhood.