Otis The king, parts 1547 - 1550

1547. How was Otis to arrange for this skit to see the light of day? There were plenty of hens available to play the part but nobody would give then a chance to try out. Every time Otis introduced a new chicken or rooster to the troupe they were turned into dinner and their bones boiled down for soup. After several failed attempts to keep dinner alive long enough to get the idea of a cock and dog fight into the minds of his associates he was on the point of giving up.

1548. But as so often with many fine things in the arts, the skit came about by accident. A rooster wandered into the camp in the evening one night. As soon as Otis saw the thing he began to back away from it as if it was a terrible menace. It was either an insane, rabid, or suicidal rooster because he backed Otis up against the cart and then lunged at him and pecked him all over the neck and shoulders.

1549. Otis rolled over and played dead, he threw himself down on his back and begged for mercy. The cock strutted back and forth in triumph, the three comedians watched awestruck. They may have been obtuse, but they grasped the concept and immediately put it into production. The rooster was not consigned to the stockpot but treated with the kind of respect a new star of the theatre can only hope for.

1550. By morning Otis had time to completely explain the concept of the skit to the rooster. The rooster had a few suggestions but by and large he understood the basic idea. The real difficulty was the endless hours that had to be devoted to teaching the three comedians their parts. Anything new or out of the ordinary presented Otis with endless difficulties.