What’s a ‘tithee’? free clown skit
(A skit for 2 or more speaking clowns – two clowns enter, with one or both of them holding a clipboard and pencil – preferably clown-sized)
Clown 1: I’m so excited!
Clown 2: Me too! I’ve always wanted to do clown ministry at (name of local church)
Clown 1: Yes! And now, all we have to do is finish out this questionnaire. Let’s see … name?
Clown 2: Yes, I have a name.
Clown 1: (writing) Good! The next thing is, birth date?
Clown 2: I don’t know.
Clown 1: (does a take, reacts to the audience) You don’t know your birthday?
Clown 2: Well, I was pretty young at the time.
Clown 1: (scribbling) Well, we’ll have to come back to that later. Where were you born?
Clown 2: In the hospital.
Clown 1: Hospital?
Clown 2: I wanted to be near my mother.
Clown 1: (scribbling) Okay. The next question is, do you tithee? (intentionally mispronouncing ‘tithe’)
Clown 2: Tithee?
Clown 1: That’s what it says here, ‘tithee’.
Clown 2: (light goes on—possibly literally if you have a light-up light bulb prop) Oh, I know! It’s like that old gospel song, ‘Nearer my God tithee’!
Clown 1: (to the audience) That just doesn’t sound right.
(at this point, either a third clown—probably a whiteface—or ‘normal’ minister walks by, and tries to straighten them out)
Minister: Fellows, that’s not what ‘tithe’ means.
Clown 1: What does it mean, then?
Minister: Well, technically, it means one tenth.
Clown 2: Tenth?
Clown 1: If you’re tense (speaking with a lisp, so that ‘tense’ sounds like ‘tenth’), you should relax!
Clown 2: Right! (the clowns try to demonstrate stretching, etc.—anything ‘clownish’ that would work with your clown character dealing with relaxing)
Minister: No, no, that’s not it, fellows. Have a seat, and let me explain what God’s ‘tithe’ means. (at this point, the minister/whiteface would explain to the congregation / kids church/ etc. what the tithe is, and what God expects from us)