Jeffery
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Loading ...Jeffery was a maintenance man for a big-time broadway production company. He was the guy who went around sweeping the floors after hours.
One day, though, Jeffery was approached by one of the big time directors, a man dressed all in black, with a megaphone hung limply in his left arm. “Jeffery,” he said, “I have some news for you. We’re putting on a gigantic production about the Civil War tomorrow. One of my men came down with the flu today, though. This puts me short one man. How would you like the part?”
Jeffery’s eyes lit up like Christmas bulbs. “Wow! Really, Mr. Director, sir? Ya mean it. Oh my gosh, my Daddy’s gonna be so proud of me.. What do I have to do?”
“All you have to do is be here tomorrow at eleven o’clock to get dressed, and run out onstage and
yell, ‘Hark, I hear the cannon’s roar.’ Can you do that, Jeffery?”
Jeffery nearly dropped his broom. “Yes sir, Mr. Director. I can do that alright. Hark, i hear the cannon’s roar! Was that good, Mr. Director?”
“You’re a natural, Jeffery. Now get on home, you’ve got to rest. Don’t be late tomorrow. Remember, eleven, o’clock.”
Jeffery hailed a cab from the sidewalk outside. He could hardly wait to tell his father of his big break.
He was so excited he even told the cab driver.
“Mr. Cab driver, Guess what! I got my big break in the Civil War Play tomorrow! I get to say, ‘Hark, i hear the cannon’s roar!’ Isn’t that great?”
“I’ll say, kid,” the cab driver said. “But you know what? A cannon is a big deal. I think you should say it with more emphasis. Like this, ‘Hark, i hear the CANNON’s roar.’ Get what I’m saying?”
“Yeah, I see what you mean. Let me try… Hark, i hear the CANNON’s roar! That’s much better Mr. Cab driver. Thanks alot. I’ll say it that way tomorrow.”
Jeffery was let out at his home, and he ran in to tell his father and see how proud he was.
“Guess what Daddy! I Got my first ever part in a real show! I have to go out there on stage tomorrow and say, Hark, i hear the CANNON’s roar!”
“That’s terriffic Jeffery, but you know what’s even better? This is your big break, right? So I think you should emphasise on yourself more than that silly old cannon. Say it more like, ‘Hark, III hear the cannon’s roar.”
“You’re right, too, Daddy. Let me try that. Hark, III hear the cannon’s roar! Yes, that feels a lot better. I’ll say that tomorrow. Thanks Daddy. Now I’m going to get some rest like Mr. Director told me to.”
The next morning, Jeffery was horrified to find he had overslept. The alarm clock on his bedstand said it was already ten forty-five. He only had fifteen minutes to get across town to change into costume and say his line!
He called the cab frantically, and when it arrived, shouted instructions to the theatre.
He got through the backstage door only sixteen seconds before eleven, and his mind was racing. There would be no time to change now.
The Director saw Jeffery and grabbed him by the sleeves. Before Jeffery was able to react, the director had thrown him onstage with only a simple “Say your line, Jeffery!” for instructions.
Just as Jeffery stumbled to a stop, a terrific, thundering KA-BOOOM echoed through the theater. Jeffery felt it throughout his body.
As the audience eyed him expectantly, Jeffery looked all around and exclaimed, “What the hell was that ?!?”
