This guest post is written by David Freels, YL leader in Knoxville, TN.
We put a new twist on a classic Young Life skit: “Little Nemo”. I saw Nemo as a club kid 30 years ago and it was so funny that it was a
reason I wanted to come back to a club. So I guess I may be biased, but I think this might be worth passing on. Twenty years ago, we used the Nemo skit all the time, but somewhere along the way it was lost. But we’re bringing it back! When I saw the PSY video for “Gangnam Style” I thought it was ripe for a Nemo. Tim Teague, our area director, thought it would be great for leaders to see how to pull this off in their clubs so we did it at leadership.
Here’s how to pull it off…
What you’ll need:
- a tuxedo jacket & bow tie (I found for $15 at a thrift store)
- sunglasses
- black shorts/swim trunks
- shoes (we used hi-tops)
- two sheets
- safety pins
- a table
- four people: two to hold the sheets (or you can pin up–possibly in a doorway), one to “be” the hands, and one to “be” the face and “legs”.
What you’ll do:
- Cut holes in the
back shoulders of the tuxedo jacket. - Leader #1 stands
right behind a table so that he can bend slightly and put his hands (Nemo’s
feet) on top of it - Leader #1 puts the
shirt and bowtie on. He then puts the tux
over his shoulders and puts the shorts over his arms and the shoes on his
hands - Leader #2 stands
directly behind Leader #1 and puts his arms through the slits in the jacket, allowing
his arms to become Nemo’s arms. - Hold the first
sheet up to cover Leader #1’s legs; the top of the sheet should touch Leader #1’s
armpits. - Pin the second
sheet to the top of the first sheet. The
second sheet should be held up to cover Leader #2’s torso and head.
Important Things to Note:
- PRACTICE with the music until you at least get the lyrics in Korean down phonetically for the lip sync.
- The hands (played by Austin Witt in our version) are the KEY–they are the unsung hero of this skit. Study the music video to nail down the perfect hand motions.
- The “face person” also uses his arms/hands for the legs/feet in the sneakers. Lifting both feet at the same time gets the biggest laughs, so it’s best to hold back and use sparingly for effect.
We ran the skit for about 1:22 of the song. I think less is more. If you are interested, run with this skit now while the PSY craze is still going. I think it might be especially good for camp on Entertainment Night. You can also use “Little Nemo” during specific sports seasons, for camp sells, etc.
David Freels is an Anglican priest in Knoxville, TN. He works for the Campus Mission, a ministry to college-age guys. He is also the director of student ministries at Apostles Anglican Church, which allows him to serve as a volunteer Young Life leader at the L & N STEM Academy. David has been involved in Young Life or youth ministry on and off since 1978, where he started out attending club at his high school.
