(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
A MARTÍNEZ, BYLINE: Time for everybody's favorite holiday quiz Show - Do You Know Your Ho Ho Ho?
STEVE INSKEEP, BYLINE: Where did this music come from? Play along at home as A Martínez and I humiliate ourselves trying to answer seasonal trivia questions compiled by Southern Living magazine. The winner takes home the coveted title of holiday know-it-all, an honor that's simultaneously priceless and worthless and a little embarrassing. Good luck, A.
MARTÍNEZ: Thank you, Steve. I will not be wishing you good luck because I want to win...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: ...And I need all the help I can get. So now let's meet our quizmaster, Southern Living senior editor Betsy Cribb Watson. Hello, Betsy.
(APPLAUSE)
BETSY CRIBB WATSON: Hello. Thank you so much for having me. OK, so I'm planning to ask - I'll direct one question to each of you at a time. If the aforementioned chosen person misses the boat, we will hand it to the other person for a chance to chime in and get it right and win those very important bragging rights.
INSKEEP: I am ready to miss a boat.
WATSON: So who's up first?
INSKEEP: I'll go first. I'll miss the first boat.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, you go.
INSKEEP: Go for it.
WATSON: In the song "The Twelve Days Of Christmas," what gift is given on the seventh day?
INSKEEP: Oh, my gosh. My gosh. (Singing) 12 drummers drumming.
A MARTÍNEZ AND STEVE INSKEEP: (Vocalizing).
INSKEEP: (Singing) Seven swans a-swimming.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
INSKEEP: Yes.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, wow.
INSKEEP: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
WATSON: And you sang it on air, so I think that gets you a bonus point.
MARTÍNEZ: That's not - Steve is a crooner...
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: ...From the 1940s, so that's not fair.
WATSON: Your turn, A.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. All right.
WATSON: It's another musical question, so you might have to sing for us, too.
INSKEEP: Ooh.
WATSON: In the song "Frosty The Snowman," what makes Frosty come to life?
MARTÍNEZ: (Singing) Frosty the snowman (vocalizing). What makes him come to life? Other than actually freezing, because he's made out of snow?
MARTÍNEZ AND INSKEEP: (Vocalizing).
INSKEEP: I just gave you a clue. That was a musical clue, A.
MARTÍNEZ: That was not a clue. You didn't say any words. You just said, mm, mm, mm.
INSKEEP: I just gave you - I gave you the phrase.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, I'm just going to say love.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Aww.
WATSON: Very sentimental.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
WATSON: But, Steve, what's the actual answer?
INSKEEP: That old silk hat they found.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
WATSON: OK, A, Steve is...
(CROSSTALK)
WATSON: ...Really taking those Christmas bragging rights thus far.
INSKEEP: (Laughter) It's really in the...
WATSON: OK, Steve. Can you keep this streak alive?
INSKEEP: I don't know.
WATSON: Which U.S. president was the first to recognize Hanukkah with a menorah lighting at the White House?
INSKEEP: Whoa. Oh, my gosh. This is going to be really hard (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: You know why I love this question? Because if Steve doesn't get it right, he will hate himself for a long time.
INSKEEP: Franklin D. Roosevelt.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
INSKEEP: (Exclaiming) Oh. OK. Go on.
WATSON: OK, A, your turn.
MARTÍNEZ: I'm going to say JFK.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
MARTÍNEZ: Oh.
WATSON: It came later - our friend Jimmy Carter, in 1979.
MARTÍNEZ AND INSKEEP: Wow. Wow.
INSKEEP: OK.
WATSON: And the first official White House Hanukkah party didn't take place until 2001, when it was hosted by George W. Bush.
INSKEEP: OK, so...
MARTÍNEZ: I'm just glad to know Steve is not perfect. So he's got one wrong, at least.
INSKEEP: I'm going to get more wrong...
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
INSKEEP: ...Without a doubt, but OK.
MARTÍNEZ: Right.
INSKEEP: So we've done three. We've got a couple more to go before I've won.
WATSON: Yes. Question four, A. Here's your chance.
MARTÍNEZ: I'm going to get this one right.
WATSON: Our present-day version of Santa is based on folklore traditions surrounding St. Nicholas, a real-life Christian bishop in what modern-day country?
MARTÍNEZ: How about Denmark?
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
INSKEEP: Burgermeister Meisterburger.
MARTÍNEZ: You sound like you know, Steve. Go ahead.
INSKEEP: (Laughter) Germany. How about Germany?
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
MARTÍNEZ: Whoa.
INSKEEP: What? What?
WATSON: OK. I'm going to give you multiple choice, to hopefully let one of you bring this one home. OK.
MARTÍNEZ: Right. OK.
WATSON: Our present-day version of Santa Claus is based on folklore traditions surrounding St. Nicholas, a real-life Christian bishop in what modern-day country?
INSKEEP: Oh.
WATSON: A, France; B, Turkey; or C, Italy.
MARTÍNEZ: How about Turkey?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
INSKEEP: Whoa.
(APPLAUSE)
MARTÍNEZ: Rising from the ashes, A Martínez, storming back in this game.
INSKEEP: It's a comeback.
WATSON: So St. Nicholas' existence was not officially recorded, so nothing certain is known of his life - except that he was probably bishop of Myra in the fourth century, and he had this legendary reputation for generosity.
MARTÍNEZ: Steve is up next, and if Steve gets it wrong, I'll have an opportunity to tie.
INSKEEP: Here we go.
WATSON: Indeed.
MARTÍNEZ: The pressure's on, Steve Inskeep.
INSKEEP: All right.
WATSON: OK. Where did the tradition of celebrating Christmas in July start?
INSKEEP: Oh, my gosh. Where did it start? I'm just going to say - I'm going to say New York City, 'cause I got to say somewhere. New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
INSKEEP: All right. What do you got?
MARTÍNEZ: Well, I guess it's my turn to try and answer this. And since I won't have a better answer than Steve, I'll say Boston.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
MARTÍNEZ: Wow.
WATSON: OK, here are your options. Where did the tradition of celebrating Christmas in July start? A, Christmas, Florida; B, Dripping Springs, Texas; or C, Brevard, North Carolina.
INSKEEP: Brevard, North Carolina.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
INSKEEP: Wow. That was just really pulling it out of the - well, out of the magic hat. The old silk hat they found.
MARTÍNEZ: Hail Mary pass for Steve Inskeep. Yeah.
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
WATSON: OK. So...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
WATSON: ...Steve, you're at three. A, you're at one. And we are at our final question, which is hopefully a chance for you to - I think, A, if you get this one right, you can just...
MARTÍNEZ: Make it close. I can make it close if I get this one?
WATSON: You can take the whole...
INSKEEP: I want two points.
WATSON: You can take the whole thing.
INSKEEP: Give me two points for this question, so we can tie if he wins.
MARTÍNEZ: Make it worth two?
INSKEEP: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, just add another heaping spoonful of pressure on me, Steve. Thank you very much.
INSKEEP: I want you to be in the game.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
WATSON: What are the holidays without a heaping pile of pressure?
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter).
INSKEEP: Exactly.
WATSON: OK. So what country has a tradition of eating KFC on Christmas Day?
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: A really fun country, it sounds like. I am going to guess Canada.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUZZER)
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Aww.
WATSON: I was rooting for you, A. I was really rooting for you.
MARTÍNEZ: Darn it.
INSKEEP: With a side order of a heaping pile of pressure (laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: There you go.
INSKEEP: I want to say Japan. Japan.
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
WATSON: Oh, Steve, you've just really smoked A this round.
INSKEEP: Wow.
MARTÍNEZ: You knew.
INSKEEP: Wow.
MARTÍNEZ: You had to have known. There's no way.
INSKEEP: I didn't know. I don't know. I kind of - it was in my head, but I don't know why I know. I can't cite the source, but Japan. All right.
WATSON: Yes, so it's aptly nicknamed Kentucky Fried Christmas. And it began as a cheeky gimmick in the '70s that has evolved into an annual celebration, complete with a party barrel bucket filled with fried chicken and coleslaw.
INSKEEP: Wow.
MARTÍNEZ: The final tally is Steve Inskeep, four, A Martínez, one.
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF SAD TROMBONE)
WATSON: I hope y'all both have lots of time planned out of the office, so A can nurse his wounds and Steve can revel in his glory.
MARTÍNEZ: Oh, boy.
INSKEEP: I'm not going to revel in glory. I'm going to buy the man a drink, or something like that.
WATSON: Very cheerful of you.
INSKEEP: Betsy, it's been a pleasure meeting you. Thank you so much for doing this.
WATSON: Thank y'all.
INSKEEP: Betsy Cribb Watson is senior editor at Southern Living.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
