THE ENTERTIANERS chapter 66

       Shortly after the Halloween Party I asked Franklin if he wanted to do a skit with me. We really hit is off as friends and comedians. At times it was like we could read one another’s minds. Ideas flowed. Writing was easy and quick. One concept blended right into the next and a pattern was set. Scripts were rarely written word for word. It was idea upon idea with a basic concept and plenty of adlibbing.  Then, we did do a lot wordless skits with several were based on the Three Stooges. Franklin and I were the consistent characters and Dean was normally the third, but I have this on photo when Al is with us. Strangely, it is the only photo I have of any skit. If anyone has any others, I would love copies. We often had help. Bruce was our sound effects guy and Mel played the piano to create the effect of a silent movie.

This skit has the whipped cream pie and you can see splatter in the back.

We also used water and one bucket had confetti to throw on the people. 

Our collarless shirts just had the collars turned inside.

Franklin, myself, and Al.

We did a lot with props, very messy props. We loved cream pies (whipped cream only – they splatter better) and water gags. We did this thing with what appeared to be a bucket of water. One would chase the other and throw it out over the audience. They ducked, they screamed, they laughed. Somewhere along the way, we would cry over our failure, problems, or whatever. That single act got great laughs and ended up being a regular part of almost every skit. All we had to do was make the face as though we were going to cry and the laugher began. It seems silly as I write it now, but it always worked

One skit we did at youth conference was the Egyptian Mummy with Miss A as the mummy.  We made a cardboard esophagus with a bowed front door so we could stuff a pile of things behind Miss A. It was rolled into place on a dolly. We built shelves in it and hangers from the roof so that we could tuck things and hang things and hopefully the audience would wonder where on earth we were getting all this stuff. 

We borrowed camping furniture--stools etc. from Mrs. Martin.  Things were very old and rotten, and as we each sat on the stools they began to rip giving us conniptions wondering how we would face Mrs. Martin. Not to be off set by an unseen development, we improvised. During pauses we spoke to each other under our breath--Franklin said, "Dean your stool is ripping---just remain in a seated position and take your weight off the stool."  We all sat there for a good length of time looking as though we were sitting on the stools, but actually sitting in mid air with strained and exhausted legs.

 In another skit we were dressed like old timers with our hair parted and plastered down in the middle. We used Butch Wax to get the hair to stay where it belonged. It was like adding concrete to our heads. We had to wash our hair over and over and over to get that stuff out. This was done in the dinning room. I came alone the wall from the kitchen and Franklin came along the wall from the girl's dorm side hallway. When we got to the corner we would each stick the tips of our fingers around the edge of the wall, so we each could tell when the other was there.  We then counted after the last person's fingers appeared as we slowly came forward, looked around the corner at the exact same time, stared at each other and were frightened. People thought it was a riot and wondered how we did it. I have just revealed a trade secret of a once wanna be stunt man. 

We also were asked to arrange the farewell chapel for the departure of Miss Shattuck Rev. Willoughy----and Mr. Morden

 Marg played Miss Shattuck who did a take-off her telling the story about her driving a car when it slid on the ice.  She used a book, and demonstrated in mid air how the car slid.  The whole thing was in the form of a trial--judge, prosecutor etc. 

We had Mr. Willoughy standing in the center of the stage, and proclaiming him guilty of more things than I can remember. He was to be hanged. The chapel screen was lowered to within reaching distance and had a noose hidden, attached and lying on top of the support board. When the screen was then jerked up suddenly the noose dropped to slightly above Rev. Willoughby’s face. Mr. Willoughby made a big production of going "gulp!!!"  It brought the house down. 

We did a skit in the lounge of the Ad Bldg. It was a whipped cream pie venture. We put some paper on the wall because Mr. Johnstone was very fussy about the buildings.  It was a precaution in case any cream flew through the air and hit the wall. Well the cream did fly, and it soaked right through the newspaper and there were large oil marks on the wall. We almost died because we didn't know how we would face Mr. Johnstone.  The next morning Franklin went straight to his office to confess.  He did so along with appropriate embarrassed mannerisms and a bowed head, Mr. Johnstone said, "Franklin!  These walls were made for the enjoyment of the students and things like that happen---its OK!"  Go figure?

At a youth conference we did a skit to get back at Rev. Willoughby who was the speaker, and Gordon Fowler who was the MC. They stayed in the lower floor room of the men’s dorm just off the ping-pong room. We snuck in and stole their toothbrushes. In the skit we addressed something we had that was just terrible.  We brought it out of a paper bag, all the while shielding it from the audience. We looked strangely at the brushes, shuddered, faked a near vomit, and then revealed the toothbrush---we identified the owners and said,  "I always wondered where the yellow went----!!!!!"  

Our skits were so funny and so well liked that people started laughing the minute they knew we were going to do a skit.  We didn't have to be worried, they laughed like crazy at everything we said or did. I always wanted Roy at each performance. He had a loud guffaw and his presence was like priming the pump. It we weren’t connecting, his laughter would bring the crowd along anyway.

That’s the way Franklin remembers it. And I’m glad he did. I remembered as he reminded me and the stories are all familiar. I really needed his memory on this. I only remember that we did skits.