Have a seat, listen to the song, and let me tell you a little story !
The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn - by Dan Tyminski
(a live version by Alison Krauss and Union Station also exist, and is brilliant, but YouTube deleted the link !)
Here's MY story: the story of the Soldier RYCO ! (Saving Private Ryco)
Here it is !
Saving Private Ryco !!
Farmer Daouid (David) goes to his fields. On his way, he meets Farmer Léo. They talked and Léo tells him a terrible news: When he came to his fields earlier this morning, all the vegetables had disappeared.
The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn - by Dan Tyminski
(a live version by Alison Krauss and Union Station also exist, and is brilliant, but YouTube deleted the link !)
Here's MY story: the story of the Soldier RYCO ! (Saving Private Ryco)
As you know, I've been a girl scout. Well, not as a kid, but as a girl scout leader.
In France, and I guess in others country it's the same, you need a specific diploma for the summer camps. In French, it's called BAFA, which means camp leader certificate.
In France, you can pass it as a civilian, or as a scout leader. If you pass it through the Scouts, you live a whole week like a summer camp (whatever the season is) : sleeping in a tent, cooking on the fire, table made in wood and string, evening around the camp fire. A nice moment.
You have to pass a first week with classes about scout life, security, living with children. Then, you have to validate this first week with 14 days spent with the kids. In these 14 days, 7 must be a summer camp. And then, you pass a second week with other classes : how to plan a summer camp, law, more about the security !
My first week was in February 2006. Rain, rain, rain, cold, cold, cold, but a beautiful week with a lot of new friends ! And the death of a tent (mine !) because of the rain and wind ! Believe me, being awake at 06:30 in the morning by a tent almost blown away is not very very good !!!
My second week was in April 2007. Sun, sun, sun, hot, hot, hot. A CRAZY week ! A lot of things to learn, a lot of people to meet, a lot of talks, laughs, looong evening around the fire, and rules : each team (we were 5 teams) had to liven up little sketches, and every day had a specific word.
Our day was Tuesday, 4th day of our crazy week, tiredness : high.
Our word : the END.
We had 24h to create a sketch in two parts, one will be presented after the breakfast and before our first activity. The second, whenever we wanted, we chose the evening, during the diner.
I had a wonderful team. 4 crazy people : Mireille, Francis, David, Léo, Sidonie and myself.
We joked a lot during this whole week.
Day - 1, afternoon, no idea, we tried to talk about it ... No success. We were finishing our lunch, awfull French beans. Usual I like it, but not those from an awfull can. And finally, this can saved ourselves !
At night, having a last cigarette, our ashtray is a can. A can of French beans.
French beans, can, the end, and a first joke with the French words "fin" (end) and "faim" (hunger), we joked about " we've had it" (c'est la fin des haricots, in French), and had our sketch !
Maybe an hour later, we had our "perfect" sketch ! Thanks to few jokes and tiredness !
In France, and I guess in others country it's the same, you need a specific diploma for the summer camps. In French, it's called BAFA, which means camp leader certificate.
In France, you can pass it as a civilian, or as a scout leader. If you pass it through the Scouts, you live a whole week like a summer camp (whatever the season is) : sleeping in a tent, cooking on the fire, table made in wood and string, evening around the camp fire. A nice moment.
You have to pass a first week with classes about scout life, security, living with children. Then, you have to validate this first week with 14 days spent with the kids. In these 14 days, 7 must be a summer camp. And then, you pass a second week with other classes : how to plan a summer camp, law, more about the security !
My first week was in February 2006. Rain, rain, rain, cold, cold, cold, but a beautiful week with a lot of new friends ! And the death of a tent (mine !) because of the rain and wind ! Believe me, being awake at 06:30 in the morning by a tent almost blown away is not very very good !!!
My second week was in April 2007. Sun, sun, sun, hot, hot, hot. A CRAZY week ! A lot of things to learn, a lot of people to meet, a lot of talks, laughs, looong evening around the fire, and rules : each team (we were 5 teams) had to liven up little sketches, and every day had a specific word.
Our day was Tuesday, 4th day of our crazy week, tiredness : high.
Our word : the END.
We had 24h to create a sketch in two parts, one will be presented after the breakfast and before our first activity. The second, whenever we wanted, we chose the evening, during the diner.
I had a wonderful team. 4 crazy people : Mireille, Francis, David, Léo, Sidonie and myself.
We joked a lot during this whole week.
Day - 1, afternoon, no idea, we tried to talk about it ... No success. We were finishing our lunch, awfull French beans. Usual I like it, but not those from an awfull can. And finally, this can saved ourselves !
At night, having a last cigarette, our ashtray is a can. A can of French beans.
French beans, can, the end, and a first joke with the French words "fin" (end) and "faim" (hunger), we joked about " we've had it" (c'est la fin des haricots, in French), and had our sketch !
Maybe an hour later, we had our "perfect" sketch ! Thanks to few jokes and tiredness !
Here it is !
Saving Private Ryco !!
ACT I.
The morning.Farmer Daouid (David) goes to his fields. On his way, he meets Farmer Léo. They talked and Léo tells him a terrible news: When he came to his fields earlier this morning, all the vegetables had disappeared.
Farmer Daouid is really worried ! He goes to his fields and sees that it's the same for him : his fields are empty, no more vegetables !
What can they do ?Plus, the factory D'Aucy, their boss, is supposed to come later that day to collect the vegetables for their awfull cans !
Only one solution, calling them and tell them
" - Houston, we have a problem !"
Farmer Léo called, the Stupid-blond Secretary says that two representative of D'Aucy are on their way to estimate the damages.
(note : I have nothing against the secretaries, and nothing against blond girls ! And no, it's not because a girl is blond that she is stupid)
(singing with a stupid voice)
" - Si c'est D'Aucy j'y vais aussi !"
(If it's D'Aucy, I go there too; it's the real jingle of D'Aucy)
(with a stupid and high-pitched voice)
" - Factory D'Aucy what can I do for you today ?"
Farmer Daouid is worried
" - What did they say ??!!"
Later, the two representatives are here and say to our farmers that they have to find a way because D'Aucy needs this vegetables !!
What you have to know: D'Aucy is a real French brand. They're producing cans of vegetables ! This is what we had for our lunch the day we prepared the "show".
(singing with a stupid voice)
" - Si c'est D'Aucy j'y vais aussi !"
(If it's D'Aucy, I go there too; it's the real jingle of D'Aucy)
(with a stupid and high-pitched voice)
" - Factory D'Aucy what can I do for you today ?"
Farmer Daouid is worried
" - What did they say ??!!"
Later, the two representatives are here and say to our farmers that they have to find a way because D'Aucy needs this vegetables !!
At this moment, a new character arrives in our terrible story : Mr Patate.
He is a potatoe, and had the chance to hide itself last night, when all the vegetables disappeared ! He is "Monsieur Patate qui en a gros sur la patate" (Mr Potatoe who is really really sad, who has a heavy heart => joke with the word "patate" that we use, in French, for potato and for the expression "having a heavy heart")
At this moment, we're losing one of the members of the public !
What you need to know : Nothing is written, we worked on the bases of the sketch late at night the previous day ... We have no idea of our dialogues, we are all improvising, and that's why (I guess) everybody (us too) is having a very good moment !!
Here come Mr Patate ! Look how sad he is !! All his friends are missing !
He's telling everything : A monster came and stole all the vegetables !!
Farmer Daouid and the Ladies refuse to believe it !
But it's true ! Mr Patate saw everything !!
Everybody listens carefully !
... Everybody ??
Look at the 5 people in the background, they are our instructors !! And the first to laughed like our sketch was the best comedy they ever seen !!
He is a potatoe, and had the chance to hide itself last night, when all the vegetables disappeared ! He is "Monsieur Patate qui en a gros sur la patate" (Mr Potatoe who is really really sad, who has a heavy heart => joke with the word "patate" that we use, in French, for potato and for the expression "having a heavy heart")
At this moment, we're losing one of the members of the public !
What you need to know : Nothing is written, we worked on the bases of the sketch late at night the previous day ... We have no idea of our dialogues, we are all improvising, and that's why (I guess) everybody (us too) is having a very good moment !!
Here come Mr Patate ! Look how sad he is !! All his friends are missing !
Farmer Daouid and the Ladies refuse to believe it !
But it's true ! Mr Patate saw everything !!
Everybody listens carefully !
... Everybody ??
Look at the 5 people in the background, they are our instructors !! And the first to laughed like our sketch was the best comedy they ever seen !!
NICO !! You're not supposed to laugh ! It's a sad story !!
At the end of the first part, Mr Patate tells us that a monster came and stole all the vegetables. But we can still have a saviour, a hero. This hero left fields many years ago, we have to find him and convince him to save the vegetables.
In English you don't have this wonderful joke we found very very late at night when we were working on the sketch. Ryco, because in French that makes the Soldat Ryco => Sold-Ha-ricot. And we played with the French title of the movie "Saving Private Ryan". In French, the title was "Il faut sauver le Soldat Ryan". So, our first act ends with :
" - Il faut sauver le soldat Ryco" (We have to save the Soldier Ryco!)ACT II.
The evening.
Everybody is having diner (all the teams are eating together with the instructors on the common table).
My team, we look at ourselves, it's time ! We're finding an excuse to leave the table (usually, it's forbidden), making an announcement with a short review of the sketch of the morning. We're leaving. We need the Soldier Ryco to be ready !
What you need to know: Having this idea was great, specially late at night ! But then, we realized that our characters were : two farmers, two representatives of D'Aucy, a secretary, a Potatoe and a French Bean ... Yes a French Bean.
Francis jumped on the Mr Patate character " - because my jumper will be perfect for the role", the others, they don't really know.
Me ? I don't care...
Who wants to play the Soldier ? Nobody, and finally, one of them (I don't remember who) said that I could be a perfect French Bean ... Ok. But if I play the French Bean during the second part of the sketch, I play the Secretary during the first part !
Deal !
At night, we meet Farmer Léo and Farmer Daouid again.
They want to know if we found the Soldier Ryco... Will he come ?
Mr Patate is here too.
He wants to know if the Soldier will save his friends ...
Everybody's waiting ...
And here he comes, the Soldier is here !!
Unfortunately he fell on the floor ...
What you need to know : did you see my costume ? We've been very lucky when we checked the costumes, we found a long piece of green cloth. Perfect to play a French Bean ! They wrapped me in... And so I lost my arms and legs. I can walk but only with microscopic steps ... It was dark, and we had to tighten a long tarpaulin above the table (in case of rain ... we had no rain). It was dark, the tarpaulin was fixed with strings. It was dark, I could make only microscopic steps, I didn't remind the strings, I fell a first time. And from this moment until the end, I laughed, impossible to stop !
Thank God, our Farmers are nice Farmers, they helped me to stand up !
Everybody wants to know :
" - Soldier Ryco, will you help us ?"
" - Please, I am Mr Patate and I have a heavy heart ! Please Soldier help me to save my friends !!"
" - Ok, I will help !"
Everybody's very happy, jumping, dancing ! Even the Soldier is trying to jump and dance ...
But the only thing he can do is falling, again ! Second time !!
I remember the sound of my head on the floor !
It hurt me so much, but finally didn't feel it because we were having so much fun !!!!
A happy end, like in a Hollywood movie !
Everybody enjoyed the show ! And we were the first to have fun !!
I never though that one day I will play the role of a French Bean.
Now I can be a great actress and play whatever you want !!
Thank you guys !I hope I'll see you soon !!
haha I like mr patate.
RépondreSupprimerMr Patate was a wonderful character ! It was hard to resist to laugh when he was here because Francis was changing his voice, making strange faces ! So good !!
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