Pickles, Darth Vader and Boogers

I drove fifteen minutes to a guy's very beige, very unmade east side apartment, to secure the Darth Vader Voice Changer helmet at 8PM the night before the show! For twenty bucks, I owned the distinct James Earl Jones voice, complete with that deep mechanical breathing that is hard to recreate without scuba equipment. The show had its grand finale. However, a little voice (not Darth's) piped in (way too passively), "Asa, whenever you do these last minute things, they end up biting you." But I knew this couldn't be the case, a real Darth Vader voice would be the piece de resistance!

In the morning, I constructed a lightsaber to make sure it could be done in a short amount of time.


Instructions:
1. Cut 3 foot pieces of foam pipe insulation that is about 1" diameter.
2. Duct tape the handle using any of these handle designs (or one of your own creations.)
3. Use blue painters tape to complete "light" part.
4. Place small circular/star/oval foam stickers on the handle as buttons.

In the morning, Ella rifled through the bag and grabbed the light saber. She and I batted around balloons. I knew the activities would be a big hit!

Off to the show we go. Sara eased the van to the curb and we were both high from popping wintergreen lifesavers. Here's a picture of Sara and Jen ready for action:






We met Liz and Brian and they were totally laid back. My confidence was in good form. Smiling, I put my bag down and went back out to retreive the rest of the stuff. When I came back in, the boys were playing with the Darth Vader mask. So much for the element of surprise, I thought. That's when another thought hit me, The ending of the show might need some work. And then another thought pushed its way in, Maybe I should've practiced a bit more. Then, I'm not sure this puppet show was such a good idea. Followed by a flood of thoughts like, is there a degree i should get in puppetteering?


The next thing I knew, we were in a swirl of setting up, answering questions, providing instructions, and - Poof! - the party was in full swing. The lightsabers were constructed without a hitch. And the boys were fed cheese sticks, told to keep their "bummies" on the chair -- snicker. snicker. Finally, the Star Wars theme song was piping out of my compter and the show was on.


The boys laughed when Charley said he'd give up his underwear to see the Star Wars movie. They also laughed when Charley said that the water tasted like boogers. And, they laughed when Billy and Charley found themselves with pickles. So, a formula of boogers, undies and weird food does work. Thanks to Bruce Hale for that tip. The activities are my favorite part. The kids just come alive even with the simplest tasks.

By Act 3, I was thinking, Success! Hah.

I secured the Mask on my head for the grand finale -- Darth Vader's appearance. Just as I turned around, all those previous thoughts about puppetteering lessons came flooding back. I started to speak and then realized, I can't see my lines! I tried to remember... I need to sound mad. Right! I pushed the buttons to sound mad....breathing...you don't know the power of the dark side...breathing...the force is with you...breathing...etc. Finally, I remembered that I need to get the pickles. I said, "Give me the pickles."

Meanwhile, Sara and Jen had no idea what was going on as nothing that I said was in the script! But eventually Darth Vader got the pickles and the boys got back to Wayne's house and then it was over and I felt like a complete dork. Hah! What fun. There's nothing like making a fool out of yourself in front of a handful of kids and a few adults to reinforce that foible about last minute changes.

Lest you think the event was a failure, it was not. We got rave reviews from the parents and one boy was even overheard saying, "That was the best party I've ever been to!"

The show will go on (more practiced and slightly modified). We will donate a show to Conservation Northwest. And, Sara and I will donate one to our kid's schools: John Hay and St. Anne's. There is also, of course, the upcoming podcast.


Today's quote:
"If you ever think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito."



-Anita Roddick