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The Cheese Shop Sketch
(a customer walks in the
door.)
Customer: Good Morning.
Owner: Good morning, Sir.
Welcome to the National Cheese Emporium!
Customer: Ah, thank you, my
good man.
Owner: What can I do for you,
Sir?
Customer: Well, I was, uh,
sitting in the public library on Thurmon Street just now, skimming
through "Rogue Herrys" by Hugh Walpole, and I suddenly came
over all peckish.
Owner: Peckish, sir?
Customer: Esuriant.
Owner: Eh?
Customer: 'Ee, Ah wor 'ungry-loike!
Owner: Ah, hungry!
Customer: In a nutshell. And
I thought to myself, "a little fermented curd will do the
trick," so, I curtailed my Walpoling activities, sallied forth, and
infiltrated your place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some
cheesy comestibles!
Owner: Come again?
Customer: I want to buy some
cheese.
Owner: Oh, I thought you were
complaining about the bazouki player!
Customer: Oh, heaven forbid:
I am one who delights in all manifestations of the Terpsichorean muse!
Owner: Sorry?
Customer: 'Ooo, Ah lahk a
nice tuune, 'yer forced too!
Owner: So he can go on
playing, can he?
Customer: Most certainly! Now
then, some cheese please, my good man.
Owner: (lustily) Certainly,
sir. What would you like?
Customer: Well, eh, how about
a little red Leicester.
Owner: I'm, a-fraid we're
fresh out of red Leicester, sir.
Customer: Oh, never mind, how
are you on Tilsit?
Owner: I'm afraid we never
have that at the end of the week, sir, we get it fresh on Monday.
Customer: Tish tish. No
matter. Well, stout yeoman, four ounces of Caerphilly, if you please.
Owner: Ah! ........ It's
beeeen on order, sir, for two weeks. Was expecting it this morning.
Customer: 'T's Not my lucky
day, is it? Aah, Bel Paese?
Owner: Sorry, sir.
Customer: Red Windsor?
Owner: Normally, sir, yes.
Today the van broke down.
Customer: Ah. Stilton?
Owner: Sorry.
Customer: Ementhal? Gruyere?
Owner: No.
Customer: Any Norweigan
Jarlsburg, per chance.
Owner: No.
Customer: Lipta?
Owner: No.
Customer: Lancashire?
Owner: No.
Customer: White Stilton?
Owner: No.
Customer: Danish Brew?
Owner: No.
Customer: Double Goucester?
Owner: <pause> No.
Customer: Cheshire?
Owner: No.
Customer: Dorset Bluveny?
Owner: No.
Customer: Brie, Roquefort,
Pol le Veq, Port Salut, Savoy Aire, Saint Paulin, Carrier de lest, Bres
Bleu, Bruson?
Owner: No.
Customer: Camenbert, perhaps?
Owner: Ah!...........We have
Camenbert, yessir.
Customer: (suprised) You do!
Excellent.
Owner: Yessir. It's..ah,.....it's
a bit runny...
Customer: Oh, I like it
runny.
Owner: Well,.. It's very
runny, actually, sir.
Customer: No matter. Fetch
hither the fromage de la Belle France! Mmmwah!
Owner: I...think it's a bit
runnier than you'll like it, sir.
Customer: I don't care how
excrementally runny it is. Hand it over with all speed.
Owner: Oooooooooohhh........!
<pause>
Customer: What now?
Owner: The cat's eaten it.
Customer: <pause> Has
he.
Owner: She, sir.
(pause)
Customer: Gouda?
Owner: No.
Customer: Edam?
Owner: No.
Customer: Case Ness?
Owner: No.
Customer: Smoked Austrian?
Owner: No.
Customer: Japanese Sage
Darby?
Owner: No, sir.
Customer: You...do have
some cheese, don't you?
Owner: (brightly) Of course,
sir. It's a cheese shop, sir. We've got--
Customer: No no... don't tell
me. I'm keen to guess.
Owner: Fair enough.
Customer: Uuuuuh, Wensleydale.
Owner: Yes?
Customer: Ah, well, I'll have
some of that!
Owner: Oh!...........I
thought you were talking to me, sir. Mister Wensleydale, that's my name.
(pause)
Customer: Greek Feta?
Owner: Uh, not as such.
Customer: Uuh, Gorgonzola?
Owner: no
Customer: Parmesan,
Owner: no
Customer: Mozarella,
Owner: no
Customer: Paper Cramer,
Owner: no
Customer: Danish Bimbo,
Owner: no
Customer: Czech sheep's milk,
Owner: no
Customer: Venezuelan Beaver
Cheese?
Owner: Not "today", sir, no.
(pause)
Customer: Aah, how about
Cheddar?
Owner: Well, we don't get
much call for it around here, sir.
Customer: Not much ca--It's
the single most popular cheese in the world!
Owner: Not 'round here, sir.
Customer: <slight
pause> and what IS the most popular cheese 'round hyah?
Owner: 'Illchester, sir.
Customer: IS it.
Owner: Oh, yes, it's
staggeringly popular in this manusquire.
Customer: Is it.
Owner: It's our number one
best seller, sir!
Customer: I see. Uuh...'Illchester,
eh?
Owner: Right, sir.
Customer: All right. Okay.
'Have you got any?' he asked, expecting the answer 'no'.
Owner: I'll have a look,
sir... nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno.
Customer: It's not much of a
cheese shop, is it?
Owner: Finest in the
district!
Customer: (annoyed) Explain
the logic underlying that conclusion, please.
Owner: Well, it's so clean,
sir!
Customer: It's certainly
uncontaminated by cheese....
Owner: (brightly) You haven't
asked me about Limburger, sir.
Customer: Would it be worth
it?
Owner: Could be....
Customer: Have you --SHUT
THAT BLOODY BAZOUKI OFF!
Owner: Told you sir....
Customer: (slowly) Have you
got any Limburger?
Owner: No.
Customer: Figures.
Predictable, really I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have
posed the question in the first place. Tell me:
Owner: Yes sir?
Customer: (deliberately) Have
you in fact got any cheese here at all.
Owner: Yes, sir.
Customer: Really?
(pause)
Owner: No...........Not
really, sir.
Customer: You haven't.
Owner: No sir. Not a scrap. I
was deliberately wasting your time, sir.
Customer: Well I'm sorry, but
I'm going to have to shoot you.
Owner: Right-0, sir.
The customer takes out a
gun and shoots the owner.
Customer: What a senseless
waste of human life.
click
here to hear the sketch
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