Dad's Stories

Note: This routine, as written, will fit exactly one person in the world: me. But you can take the bones of it and make it fit exactly one other person in the world: YOU.

For a Father’s Day performance last year I created a routine that gave me the chance to talk about my dad. He was born in South Dakota and traveled in a covered wagon as a little kid, was in the Coast Guard during World War 2, raised 8 kids, spent time with his missionary brother in Africa, and died in Alaska at the age of 88…

And that’s how the routine begins.

There are six cards with numbers on the back, faces away from the audience. The idea is that you have time to tell one story about your father, and you tell one as an example of what they’ll hear.

Then start eliminating cards until only one is left. Unfortunately you’ve just run out of time and can’t tell the story, but whether it’s chance or something more powerful, the card that was left shows a picture of the story you used as an example at the beginning.

You need some way to NOT eliminate the card that shows your example story. As my dad’s favorite game was Yahtzee, using dice was a no brainer and I used Steve Dela’s D Minus 5 dice, which don’t ever roll a five. That utility prop is no longer available, but there are forcing dice sets available at Vanishing Inc, Penguin, etc. (But not at Vanishing Penguin, unfortunately.)

The props can be made with any word processor. I had images created that matched the stories dad told us, then created six horizontal pages in my word processor and typed a big number on the left and put one of the pictures on the right.

Then I printed them out on thin cardstock, folded them in half, and glued them. Ta-da!

This is in no way a stage effect, but the room I was in had about fifteen people so I wanted larger cards, but if you‘re strictly a close-up kind of performer, smaller cards could be used.

My Dad was born in South Dakota and traveled in a covered wagon as a little kid, was in the Coast Guard during World War 2, raised 8 kids, spent time with his missionary brother in Africa, and died in Alaska at the age of 88.

Dad had a lot of stories that he loved to tell. For example…

Dad worked one summer as a fire lookout in Washington state, in a tower on a mountaintop looking for smoke that he’d then radio in. At the end of his two-week shift he’d walk down the mountain and the next person would walk up to start their shift. One time he was heading down the mountain and heard the other guy walking up, and decided to have fun and scare him, so he leaped through the bushes roaring — and found himself face-to-face with a bear who roared back. They were both so scared they took off running in different directions and Dad made it off the mountain in record time.

When we were little kids we asked dad to tell us that story over and over again.

I have six cards here, each one with a different story about Dad. I only have time to tell you one, so we’re going to discover which one using the process of elimination. Dad’s favorite game was Yahtzee, so I grabbed some dice and I’d like you to roll these — now choose any one of those numbers and we’ll eliminate that card, and that story.

[As each card is eliminated, flip it around to briefly show the picture as you mention what story won’t be told.]

1. Working on the pipeline
You don’t get the story of when Dad was working on the Alaska pipeline and one of his coworkers slipped him pot brownies as a joke.

2. Saved by the shore patrol
You don’t get to hear the story about the Shore Patrol saving Dad from a group of natives in the South Seas after he did something stupid.

3. Driving in and out of Alaska
You don’t get to hear about Dad leaving my Mom in Alaska every fall while he drove by himself to somewhere warm.

4. Preaching
Dad was a part-time pentecostal preacher, but we’ve eliminated this one so you don’t get to hear a sermon this evening. Can I get an amen?

6. Climbing tree at 50
You don’t get the story about when Dad turned 50 and decided to climb a tree to prove to his kids that he still had it.

[When down to the last card, either have a timer buzzer go off, or just look at your watch before saying you’re out of time.]

5. Bear on the mountain
We’re down to the final story about Dad, but unfortunately I’m out of time. The good news is, whether by chance, or by some unknown power, you’ve already heard the story (flip around the card) of Dad and the bear.

If your dad is still around, give him a call today. If he’s not, share one of his stories with someone you love.

Like I said at the beginning, this effect will need to be completely changed to fit you. Although if you are a good enough actor and want to pretend all those are stories your dad told you, go for it. Seriously. I wouldn’t do it, but I won’t be offended if you do.

This doesn’t have to be stories about someone. You could have cards with anything on the back. Logos of companies where you feed them all into a shredder one at a time to eliminate until the last one is shown and it’s the logo of the company you’re performing for.

Do a version of a Kiss/Kill effect, or a game show, where someone will win one of the items on the other side of the card. Show a new car, $100K in cash, diamond ring, etc., as they are eliminated. At the end they win a selfie with you, or something similar.

Using Headliner?

If you’re using Headliner (even the free version), you can use the link below to download the effect (including the script) and then import it into your Headliner account.

Effect-Dad's Stories.headliner

After downloading, log into Headliner and go to your Account Profile, and down near the bottom you’ll see an “Import .headliner file” button. Click that, point it to the file you downloaded, and Dad’s Stories will be entered into your list of Effects, just like magic!