I'm Ready For My Closeup, Mr.DeMille

One of the big summertime activities here in Fayetteville, NC is VBS Season.

What's VBS?

Why, Vaction Bible School, of course!

Every year the churches host week-long "day camps" for their neighborhood children. I have participated a wee bit in past campaigns.

One year I played guitar for the music sessions.

One year I took a role in a skit.

But THIS year?

I am going to be a puppeteer!

And not just any puppet, mind you.

I am to be Scraps, the raccoon - the mascot of the "Shake It Up Cafe!"

I got the script and the raccon puppet a couple weeks ago, so I could practice. I'm giving Scraps a really bogus Buddy Hackett type voice. Here's a sample of the dialog:

Chef: Do you know anything about cooking?

Scraps: Ha! I'm an expert!

Chef: An expert, huh? Well, let's try a little test. What's in a PB&J?

Scraps: Potato butter and jelly, preferably on sourdough.

Chef: Potato butter?

Scrap: I'm allergic to peanuts.

Mariel, unsurprisingly, is simply nuts for li'l Scraps.

She's been helping me run my lines, by dressing up and ad libbing her own parts, as pictured below.



But since this is an all-volunteer church activity, there is always a "seat-of-your-pants" element to the organization and execution of it.

Turns out the fellow who had initially volunteered to play Scraps' mentor, Chef Basil, has had to back out for business reasons. A replacement has not yet been confirmed, so I don't know who will be Abbott to my Costello.

The skits require a cafe setting with a puppet stage built into it. Also, there are DVD and CD segments to be incorporated into the skits. It's turning into a "My Little Pony Live!" production, methinks.

I intend to come up with a way to cue the DVD and CD players as well as mike up our stage area. It'll take some doing, but I think we can pull it off.