Friday, August 7, 2009

Bowdens' Got Talent

A few weeks ago, we received a special letter in the mail: An invitation to our neighborhood talent show. It sounded a bit strange (do other neighborhoods do this?) but we thought it could be a fun adventure. We kicked around ideas and hemmed and hawed about joining, until finally yesterday, though we had yet to formula an actual "act", we decided to bite the bullet and at least go sign up.

So we walked down the street to the Director's house, joking about our possible talents and speculating about the nature of the event. Feeling slightly silly, but game for some fun, we knocked on the door. We were greeted by a young boy, who was none-too-amused to have his evening interrupted. Expecting to find his mother, we asked, "Is Claire home?"
"No." he said gruffly and promptly ran away.
An adult overheard the exchange, and rushed to meet us (chastising his attitude on her way). She greeted us warmly, and we expressed our excitement to join in the fun.
"Oh great!" she replied, "Claire will be so excited." (Ummm, wait...aren't you Claire? My thoughts swirled...) "She's my nine year old daughter. She's out at a girl scout meeting right now."
She's WHAT?! If I could have melted into the sidewalk and flowed back to my end of the street I would have. But there was no turning back. We smiled nervously and asked how many other acts they had lined up.
"Oh, not that many. The neighbors are being kind of shy with their talent! But Claire will be performing, and so will some of her friends...Oh, and a girl I know used to be a dancer, so I've asked her to come even though she doesn't live in the neighborhood. And we'll be getting a boom box and a microphone, so we should be all set if you need anything."
It was getting worse by the minute, but she was so sweet and enthusiastic that we could hardly bail now. I think she sensed our sheepishness at this point (especially after I asked hopefully if she would be performing.) so she continued her pitch, explaining that it would be a great chance for people in the neighborhood to get to know each other, relax, laugh and have some fun. Oh, and that there would be plenty of wine. And just like that, we were in.

But there's still that pesky problem of us not having a talent, per se. We've discussed our old standby: singing a duet, with Dustin playing the guitar, and me on the tambourine. Or we thought it might be good to aim high and finally debut the banjo or the keyboard that we've previously only practiced alone. Or it could be fun to break out a Young Life bit (playing "dueling banjos" using flashlights up our noses?). Or maybe there's an awesome idea we haven't thought of yet.....

So that's where you come in, faithful readers. Leave your best ideas in the comments section (or make up for quality of plans with quantity!) . Anything goes...it just has to be under ten minutes...and of course, feasible by me and the mister. OH- and the performance date is next Sunday. So time is of the essence. We won't let you down!


5 comments :

  1. Hmmmmm....Have you ever seen the one where one of you reads Green Eggs and Ham while the other does a prop interpretation???? Very funny...just sayin'

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  2. ooo! ooo! ooo! learn all the steps to the BUTT routine from SYTYCD!
    ... but you might have to cover the 9 year old's eyes.

    i think the addiction piece would be too "much" for the little ones.

    hehe :)

    (i wish you had that moment of standing at the door talking to that lady on video for us all to witness!!! we love you guys)

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  3. I've given it a little thought since you spoke of this last night, and... Light and Fluffy. You will be a hit!

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  4. personally I think YL skits are the way to go, given the audience. I forget some of the 'club' skits you guys talked about when you were here already but surely Dustin can fire stuff out of his nose long distances.


    ... dustin could break down a cover 2 defense complete with diagrams and flip charts
    ... or maybe you could be Rachel Ray and teach them how to make eggplant lasagna :)

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  5. I'm a bit behind on your blog so I'm just now reading this. I love that you guys are in the kids' talent show!

    I thought you guys had learned Bleeding Love? You would definitely knock their socks off with a Nappy Tab routine!

    I was having so much fun visualizing you and Dustin performing the various acts you suggested, banjo/keyboard, flashlights in nose! Your neighbors are going to love you guys :) Just make sure you have a few glasses of wine before you hit the stage!

    I agree with Renee, I would have loved a video of you at the door talking to the mom - although I think I have a pretty clear mental image of it!

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