by Tim Feran

"It's been, like, 10 years,'' Michael Feldman said as he prepared to begin "the second coming'' of Whad'Ya Know? to Columbus. "So, here we are again.''

Looking at the large crowd gathered yesterday in the Wexner Center for the Arts' Mershon Auditorium for the live broadcast of his comedy-quiz show, he observed, "You haven't aged a bit.''

Nor, in almost every way, have Feldman and his merry band of accomplices.

Feldman's quick but dry wit, the casual charm of his show and its eclectic guests have become familiar to listeners of WCBE (90.5 FM) and WOSU (820 AM). Even Feldman's attire was familiar -- he wore khakis and a red T-shirt that bore the words Columbus and Ohio and a picture of Sylvester the Cat.

This road trip was different from past shows, however -- this one was tailored especially to Columbus.

The set was strewn with funky reminders of what it means to live in central Ohio. A gigantic Blue Jackets jersey hung on stage left, while on stage right a flat resembling the side of a barn was painted with the Ohio Bicentennial logo.

A large-size photo of an individual piece from Dublin's Field of Corn sat near a cardboard version of a Wexner Center turret. On the other side of the stage, near a Kilroy sign from the Ohio Historical Society's exhibition on 1940s culture, sat the inevitable orange barrel.

Looking around the set, Feldman spotted an enormous Longaberger picnic basket and said to announcer Jim Packard, "Does that basket look large? Ten years -- a lot can happen to a person's central nervous system.''

Unfortunately, sight gags are hard to do on radio, and Feldman several times noted that it was too bad this edition of the show wasn't televised. That was especially true when Sarah Boysen, an OSU psychologist who studies the cognitive skills of chimpanzees, came strolling onstage.

Or rather, when Boysen hobbled onstage -- with Harper the chimp riding her lower leg.

Boysen quickly proved to be one of the show's better guests, and her chimps turned the Whad'Ya Know? set into their playground.

"I had to tell him,'' she said of Harper, "in order to get him here, he was going to meet Jack Hanna.''

Feldman, trying to conduct an interview, became slightly befuddled as Harper and female chimp Emma had their way with stage props.

"He's starting to pull cords here,'' Feldman said, fretting that the show was going to end before its scheduled conclusion.

"They did this at Wal-Mart last week -- it was awful,'' Boysen said, to the delight of the audience.

After the simian high jinks, Feldman chatted with Mayor Michael Coleman, who proclaimed it "Not Much Day'' in honor of the response to the show's title question. Other interviews included COSI president, oceanographer and former astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, who informed Feldman that space has "way cooler views,'' while the ocean has "way cuter critters.''

Musical guest Sally Fingerett sang a couple of witty songs, one about "a small-mouthed bass and a large-mouthed woman -- me,'' the other about the necessity of taking her out to expensive restaurants.

Feldman even got around to conducting some quizzes, which were also tailored to Columbus.

"Who is Johnny Marzetti?'' he asked one contestant, and later commanded, "Explain the following: Today's trash color is pink.''

"You know,'' Feldman said at one point, "I'm a Wexner on my mother's side, a Schottenstein on my father's side. I've got a feeling I have a building in my future.''

Judging from the crowd's rapturous reception to his show, a building and the keys to the city wouldn't be out of the question.

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