carolyn kellogg

Tonight there is a strange confluence of forces, as Jonathan Ames (Wake Up, Sir!) joins the panel of celebrity guest guessers on the contemporary stage version of the old TV show "What’s My Line." I’ve been dying to get to this live theater thing for ages, as rumor has it J. Keith Van Straaten puts on a great show, with 4 different, funny  panelists each week trying to figure out who a mystery guest might be (Wink Martindale, Sean Young and Dick Van Patten, among others, and yes, they’re in the house). Usually the 4 celebs are entertainment folks, and the only other writer I can think of who’s been on the panel is the much-hyphenated actor-blogger-memoirist Wil Wheaton who also performs at the ACME Theater, where the whole thing goes down. So Ames’ appearance is something of a writerly breakthrough. Plus, he’ll be sitting on the panel with the ever-cool Mink Stole.