W O O D B A D G E P R O J E C T
S K I T S
The Would-Be Leader
Cub - "Akela, Akela, Akela . . ."
Akela - "Yes, what do you want?"
Cub - "I wanna be a leader, I wanna be a leader. What do I have to do to be a leader?" Ham this up a lot. Be bouncy and enthusiastic.
Akela - "Well . . . Are you sure you want to be a leader?" Hesitantly.
Cub - "Yes, Yes!! I wanna be a leader, I wanna be a leader. What do I have to do to be a leader?" Ham this up. Turn and nod to the audience.
Akela - "Well...OK. You first have to answer three skill-testing questions in order to become a leader."
Cub - OK, OK. What are the questions? What are the questions?" With great enthusiasm.
Akela - "Right. Here is the first question. Are you ready?"
Cub - "Yes, yes. What is it?"
Akela - Here we go. How many days of the week begin with the letter ‘T’?"
The Cub begins to mumble, might say a thing or two to the audience, counts on his fingers, then says... "I have it, I have it!"
Akela - "OK, so how many days of the week begin with the letter ‘T’?"
Cub - "Two" Proudly!
Akela - "Are you sure?"
Cub - "Well, lets see. There's ‘Today’ (pause) and ‘Tomorrow’. How's that, huh, huh?"
Akela - "Well, that certainly isn't the answer I expected but it IS correct."
Cub - "What's the next question, what's the next question?"
Akela - "OK then. Here you go. How many seconds are there in a year?"
Cub - "Oooh, that's a real tough one. Let me think." At this point, the Cub really ponders this, counts on fingers, mumbles, maybe says something to the audience, and counts on his fingers some more, then says, "I have it, I have it!"
Akela - "OK, so how many seconds are there in a year?"
Cub - "Twelve!"
Akela - "Twelve? How did you arrive at that number?"
Cub - "It's easy." Starts counting out on his fingers, "There's January second, February second, March second... See, twelve!"
Akela - "Arrrrgh! We can certainly use creative leaders, and that is certainly a pretty creative answer."
Cub - "So what’s the third question, what’s the third question?"
Akela - "OK, here it is. How may D’s are there in the song, ‘Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer’?"
Cub - "Oooh, that's the toughest one yet. Let me think." At this point, the Cub really ponders this, counts on fingers, scratches figures in the air, mumbles, maybe says something to the audience, and counts on his fingers some more, then says, "I have it, I have it!"
Akela - "So, how may 'D's are there in the song, ‘Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer’?"
Cub - "Seven hundred forty-three."
Akela - "Seven hundred forty-three!? That's incredible. How did you arrive at that figure?"
Cub - "It's easy... DE-DE DE-DE-DE-DEE-DEEEE DE-DE-DE-DE-DE-DE-DEEEE..."
Sing about that much of it, that way, and leave the stage.
What is the message here? Everyone, no matter how dumb they may seem, can contribute usefully.
CPR Skit
One person is laying on the floor. Two other people walk up.
#1 - "Hey this guy is hurt." He goes and checks his heart beat. "No heart beat, help me do CPR!" Second person goes down and starts pumping on the chest and the first guy counts. Do this for a little while.
#2 - "I'm getting kind of tired here. I think it is time to switch."
#1 - "Ok, ready."
At this point the person on the ground gets up, one of the other people goes down and they start doing CPR again.
Help others
The Dead Body
Scene: one person lying on the ground, badly hurt.
Passerby runs for the telephone and, panicking, gasps - "Help, there's an injured person here..."
Police - "Where are you calling from?"
Passerby - "Um..." (looking for a street sign) "I'm at Killarney and Inverness."
Police - "Can you spell that?"
Passerby - "Um, K-I-L-A-, no K-I-L-L-A-, no, K-A- no..." (confused) "Just a minute, I'll drag him over to King and Elm!"
Help others. Be creative
Pull a Rope
Someone walks on pulling a rope.
Leader - "What are you pulling that rope for?"
Cub - "Did you ever try to push one?"
Try this with the leader using various tones of voice - snooty, questioning, curious, etc. and see how the responses differ. Why?
Nosebleed
Person with nosebleed, four pedestrians, setting is a city street
Nosebleed person is looking up in the air. #1 comes in and looks around, then up.
#1 - "Hmm, what's going on?" (No answer.)
#2 walks in, does/says the same thing, as does #3.
#4 walks in, looks around, looks up. "What are you guys doing?"
Nosebleed - "I don't know what these guys are doing, but I've got a nosebleed!"
We should pay attention to our surroundings, and not jump to conclusions.
Why Are You Late?
Boss, four workers, setting is an office
Boss - "Why are you late?"
#1 (Rushing into work, breathless) - "Sorry, boss. My car broke down, so I took the bus. But the driver hit a tree, so I had to take a cab. And it broke down, too. Fortunately, I was near a stable so I borrowed a horse. But it ran so fast that it had a heart attack and collapsed. I had to jog the rest of the way here!"
#2 and 3 come in late with exactly the same excuse. The boss becomes a little bit more exasperated each time, until #4 finally comes in, late of course.
Boss - "Why are you late? No, wait. Let me guess. Your car broke down, so you took the bus. But the bus driver hit a tree, so you took a cab. And it broke down too. Fortunately, you were near a stable and so you borrowed the horse. But it ran so fast that it had a heart attack and collapsed, so you had to jog the rest of the way, right?"
#4 - "No boss, you got it all wrong! The streets were so crowded with broken down cars, buses and cabs, trees, dead horses, and worst of all some crazy joggers that I just couldn't get through!"
Again, don't jump to conclusions. Do you think the boss thought the first three were lying?
What's the Problem?
Leader, three or four Cubs, campfire chief (in campfire blanket), setting is a tent area.
Leader - (crying on stage)
Cub 1 - (sees leader, goes to him) - "What's the problem?"
Leader whispers in kid's ear. Cub 1 begins to cry as well.
Cub 2 - "Hey! What's the problem?"
Cub 1 whispers in Cub 2's ear, and he starts crying too. Continue with #3 and #4. Finally, the Campfire Chief comes around.
Chief - "Hi! I've come around to collect skit names for the campfire tonight! Hey! What's the problem?"
All crying - "We don't have a skit!"
Why did everyone just cry? What should they have done?
Doggie Doo
Two friends, doggie doo, setting is a street.
Two friends are walking along the street, perhaps having a conversation about something, talking about a movie or the latest sport scores, when all of a sudden...
John - "Hey Frank! Watch out! That may be doggie doo! Smell it to see if it smells like doggie doo!"
Frank (smells it) - "Yup! Smells like doggie doo!"
John - "Touch it to see if it feels like doggie doo!"
Frank (touches it) - "Yup! Feels like doggie doo!"
John - "Taste it to see if it tastes like doggie doo!"
Frank (tastes it) - "Yup! Tastes like doggie doo!"
John - "Well! It's a good thing we didn't walk in it!"
The idea of exploring and experiencing the environment is a good one, though I don't recommend this particular aspect of it...
The Candy Shop
Old storekeeper, young child, setting is a candy shop
Child walks up to storekeeper - "I want five of those penny candies way up at the top."
Storekeeper - "You mean those penny candies, way, way, waaaaaayy up top?"
Child - "Yes, please."
The storekeeper sighs, while the child takes innocent pleasure in watching the storekeeper go up, gets him five candies, climbs all the way down, and collects the five cents. This scene repeats itself several times over three days, with the storekeeper being more and more tired each time and becoming equally more frustrated.
Storekeeper - "Oh no! I see that kid coming again. I know what he's coming to get, so I'll climb up now to get the candies and have it ready for him before he comes in." He climbs up and gets the five candies.
Storekeeper as the child walks in - "I bet I know what you want. I bet you want five of the penny candies from way up top, right?"
Child - "Nope! Not today!"
Storekeeper, sighing - "Oh no. Now I have to climb all the way back up to put them away. (He climbs up, puts them away, then comes down.)
Storekeeper - "Now, son, what would you like today?"
Child - "I would like three of those penny candies way up at the top!"
Having respect for each other is very important. What could the boy have done in this case?"
The Lawnmower
Five Cubs, one is a lawn mower, one is a guy trying to start the lawn mower, and three others attempt to help him. Cub 1 has several tries at starting the lawnmower without success, then Cub 2 comes along.
Cub 2 - "What you doing?"
Cub 1 - "Trying to start my lawn mower."
Cub 2 - "Let me try." Cub 2 gives the lawn mower a jerk and the Cub posing as a lawn mower acts as if it won't start.
Cub 1 - "No luck."
Cub 3 - "Whatcha doing?"
Cubs 1 and 2 - "Trying to start the lawn mower."
Cub 3 - "Let me try." He gives the Cub posing as a lawn mower a big pull but it just makes a spluttering noise.
Cub 1 - "No luck."
Cub 4 - "What are you doing?"
Cubs 1, 2 and 3 - "Trying to start the lawn mower."
Cub 4 - "Let me give it pull." He pulls it and the Cub posed as a mower pretends to start.
Cub 1 - "Thanks, I guess it only took a BIG JERK to start it."
If you can get a gullible "guest artist" to take the role of Cub 4, perhaps a leader, you could just tell them their lines without explaining how the skit ends.
Too easy. Help each other
Lunch Break
Two students, announcer, need some lunch bags or pails.
Students enter with lunches and sit down together.
Announcer - "We see here a cafeteria. It is now lunch time, and two friends are about to eat."
Student 1 opens lunch bag and looks very disgusted - "Yechhhh!! Egg salad sandwiches again!"
Student 2 - "Look, if you hate them that bad, I'll swap with you." (Both pretend to eat, then exit.)
Announcer - "The next day."
Student 1 enters with Student 2, opens lunch bag and looks very disgusted - "Yechhhh!!! Egg salad sandwiches again!"
Student 2 - "O.K... I'll trade with you again." (Both pretend to eat, then exit.)
Announcer - "The next day."
Student 1 enters with Student 2, opens lunch bag and looks very disgusted - "Yechhh!! Egg salad sandwiches again!"
Student 2 (angrily) - "Look, if you don't like egg salad sandwiches, why don't you ask your mom to make something else?"
Student 1 - "My mom? She's got nothing to do with it. I make my own sandwiches!"
The Firing Squad
Firing squad, leader, 3-4 prisoners, sticks for rifles
A firing squad marches in with prisoners, under the direction of their leader, lines up and places a prisoner in position for execution. Others are off to the side. The leader of the firing squad gets ready...
Leader - "Ready... Aim..."
Prisoner shouts - "Tornado!"
The soldiers all run for cover and the prisoner escapes. The firing squad recovers and a second prisoner is brought out.
Leader - "Ready... Aim..."
Prisoner shouts - "Landslide!"
The firing squad runs for cover and this prisoner escapes as well. Repeat this for other natural disasters -- earthquake, hurricane, stampede. The last prisoner, obviously not very bright, is brought out, and having seen the other prisoners escape decides to do the same thing.
Leader - "Ready... Aim..."
Prisoner thinks, scratches his head, sudden idea... "Fire!" and the firing squad does.
The Sixer, the Second, and the Tenderpad
The sixer, second, and the Tenderpad are walking through the woods on a nature hike. The Tenderpad is not paying attention.
Sixer - "We're going to look for wildlife for your badge requirements." (excited, pointing) “Look, look... Did you see that?"
Second - "Oh, yes! It was amazing!"
Tenderpad - "See what??! No, no, what, where?"
Sixer - "It was a beautiful eagle, four foot wing span, gorgeous colours."
Second - "Absolutely amazing!"
Tenderpad - "No. I didn't see it"
Sixer - "You'd better pay closer attention." They continue walking. "Oh, look, did you see that?"
Second - "I sure did!"
Tenderpad - "No, what?"
Sixer - "A huge lizard. I wish you'd pay closer attention." And later. "Did you see that? Did you see it?"
Second - "Yes, it was incredible!"
Tenderpad - "No, I missed it... what was it?"
Sixer - "An ooh-aah bird."
Tenderpad - "Ooh-aah bird? What's an ooh aah bird??"
Sixer - An ooh-aah bird is bird that lays a square egg, like this: Ooooooooooooohhhhh (scrunch up face)- aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh" (face lights up) "You’d better not miss any more." Continue walking.
Tenderpad whispers to the Second - "Next time I'll fool him. I'll pretend I saw whatever it is he sees."
Sixer - "Tenderpad, did you see that!"
Tenderpad - "Yes! I saw it, I saw it!"
Sixer - "Then why in the world did you step in it?!"
Keep your eyes open to the wonders of nature. Whay are there so many different creatures in the world? How can we take care of them?