Requirements
this is a great skit for counselors to do – adults are great as furniture.
Objective
Description
Camper #1 is a store Salesman
Camper #2 is a Mother looking for a new couch
Props needed: 3 chairs lined up, a bucket of water, bottle of ketchup, mustard and some other kinds of condiments. Jelly, soda, baking sprinkles, etc. Safe but messy lotions, foods and fun things. Box of matches
Camper 1 (Salesman) comes on stage and says a few volunteers are needed to help out with the skit. Since the stage is a furniture store the volunteers are asked to be pieces of furniture.
Three chairs are lined up and in each chair sits a volunteer, who play the part of cushions on the couch, with the other volunteers holding their arms out like arm rests. One other person stands up straight as a lamp behind the couch. Another person can act like a coffee table – whatever catches the fancy of the Salesperson.
The volunteers are thanked profusely and told that they are to stay still no matter what. Their job is to pretend they are furniture, so they are to be still and not move, laugh or wiggle.
When the showroom is done the Salesman tells the audience that business has been really slow and that he/she REALLY needs a sale!!
As he/she finishes telling the audience how badly the store is doing and how much a sale is needed, the Mother walks in loudly announcing that she is looking for QUALITY furniture. The Salesman assures her that this furniture is as good as it gets. The Mother says it has to be good because she has 9 children and they are VERY hard on the furniture.
The Salesman asks the mother to sit down and try the furniture pointing out how comfortable the couch is (Mother sits on volunteers and spreads out, putting her feet up on the “sofa” or on the “coffee table”.) Mother comments on how comfortable the furniture is but she is worried about how the fabric will hold up to her nine very busy and sometimes sloppy children.
The Salesman REALLY needs this sale and sees that this may be a potentially huge sale if he/she can prove how durable and comfortable furniture is.
The Salesman offers to have the Mother bounce up and down on the furniture, turn on and off the light many times, knock on the furniture to show how solid the wood table are etc. The Mother is interested but not quite sold. She really wants to know how well the furniture will hold up to spills and stains.
The salesman is desperate, so he/she tells the Mother to wait just a moment and goes off stage and comes back with a bottle of ketchup and starts squirting the “couch”. The Mother is quite impressed because the couch doesn’t show the stain. (Volunteers will try hard not to move or brush off ketchup)
The Salesman can see that the Mother isn’t quite sure yet, so he/she goes and gets the mustard. Once again the Mother isn’t quite sure – she asks how the furniture stands up to Peanut butter and jelly. Here the Salesman runs to get the jelly and smears it on the furniture showing the mother how easily is can wipe off.
By now the volunteers are getting pretty nervous about what is coming next.
Mother then tells the salesman that her kids love to bake and how would the furniture stand up to that? The Salesman runs out and brings back sprinkles etc.
Finally the Mother asks how best to wash the furniture – here the Salesman brings in the bucket of water and throws it on the “furniture”. If any of the volunteers are still on stage (some may have decided to leave by then) the Mother announces that most of all she is worried how the furniture can stand up to fire as her kids really like to play with matches.
At this point volunteers will probably get up and run off the stage – if they still are hanging in there, Salesman should tell Mother that he/she has some gasoline off stage which he could throw on the furniture to show how flame retardant it is around matches. Salesman lights a match.
At this point any remaining volunteers will probably run off stage – if they are brave enough to stay the Mother assures the Salesman that isn’t necessary and buys the whole lot!
