9. Everyday epics
Have you ever heard the expression ‘making mountains out of molehills’? It means to treat a small problem as if it were a really big one. This is something comic characters do a lot. In fact, it’s one of the things that makes them comic characters.
In ‘Two brown blobs’ Andy manages to turn a common bathtime mishap into a nightmarish struggle for survival.
‘Two brown blobs’ (Just Disgusting!)
There are many other examples of Just stories in which Andy makes a big deal out of a small thing or turns a simple procedure into a lengthy drama. I think of these as everyday epics. They include:
Just Stupid!
• ‘Busting’
Andy’s desperate attempt to find a toilet in a multi-level shopping centre becomes an epic journey, during the course of which he accidentally causes the shopping centre to catch fire … Luckily he has exactly what the firefighters need to extinguish the blaze.
Just Stupid!
• ‘Band-aid’
Andy manages to make the removal of a band-aid a drama of Shakespearean proportions. (‘To peel or not to peel? That is the question.’)
Just Doomed!
• ‘Lick’
Andy is trying to have the first lick of his ice-cream, but is constantly interrupted by friends, family and seagulls.
Just Annoying!
• ‘The last Jaffa’
Andy is at the cinema watching a James Bond movie when he drops the last lolly in his packet. Inspired by the movie, he decides to go on a Bond-style mission to find his last Jaffa, much to the annoyance of the other cinema patrons.
Just Crazy!
• ‘Rubbish’
Andy tries to put the rubbish bin out for collection but ends up falling into the bin, being tipped into the truck and going on a very disgusting journey.
• ‘Mudmen’
Andy and his dad make their way through the neighbourhood naked and covered in mud on a quest to retrieve a set of house keys from Dad’s office. Their adventure ends up being a transformative journey of personal discovery for Andy’s father.
Just Crazy!
TRY THIS
Luckily / Unluckily story
Write a Luckily/Unluckily sequence based on a simple problem, either from your own life or from the list on page 76.
Even the most ‘ordinary’ life is full of the types of problems and challenges that can be used as the basis for fun stories. For example:
Luckily it was a curriculum day and I didn’t have to go to school.
Unluckily I had to go to the dentist.
Luckily it was only a check-up.
Unluckily the dentist found a big hole in my tooth.
Luckily there was only one hole.
Unluckily it was such a BIG hole that the dentist didn’t have enough tooth-filling material to fill it.
Luckily some workers were fixing the footpath outside and the dentist was able to borrow some concrete.
Unluckily the dentist used too much and concreted my mouth shut.
Luckily I’m quite good at drinking through my nose.
Luckily / Unluckily story starters:
1.
Luckily I got a kite for my birthday.
Unluckily it got stuck in a tree.
Luckily …
2.
Luckily I was the first one up so I didn’t have to wait to use the shower.
Unluckily I was getting out of the shower when I realised there were no towels in the bathroom.
Luckily …
3.
Luckily I got a new bike.
Unluckily while I was riding it through the park a dog started chasing me.
Luckily …
4.
Luckily my basketball team made it into the grand final.
Unluckily some idiot threw a banana peel onto the court.
Luckily …