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Debbie Dander: Mafia Management
The setup
The premise
Here’s the bit.
The Esposito crime family hires motivational consultant Debbie Dander to repair morale after a string of leaks. She cheerfully overwrites the mobsters' fearsome nicknames with upbeat job-title versions, coaxes each man to explain his duties, and wins confessions about who breaks elbows, who shoots and who cleans up. A group hug exposes the wire-wearing informant among them, and her talk of honest, specific communication gives the others the exact language they need to plan his execution, with her bright cheer intact as they leave.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 4
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Why not a more positive name, like Jimmy the Enabler Esposito?
Honest plus specific equals super terrific.
Let him interface with the pavement.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:08
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
Gentlemen, gentlemen, welcome to the Esposito annual family retreat. Now, this year we all know that morale is down due to leaks, nobody knows who to trust, and we've all lost our confidence, right? That's why we've hired Miss Debbie Dander. She's a human motivator.
- 00:30
Debbie Dander
It's terrific to be here at this undisclosed place of business, and welcome to today's seminar, Getting Back the Magic. Just being in this room, I'm sensing a lack of trust and a lot of hostility. Hmm. So why don't we just start from scratch? Get to know each other all over again, huh? Jimmy Ice Esposito. Ooh. I don't know if I like that name.
- 00:51
Debbie Dander
Ice sounds so very cold and impersonal. What do you do in this organization, Jimmy?
- 00:57
Jimmy "Ice" Esposito
Somebody needs to get done, I do.
- 00:59
Debbie Dander
So you do, people. Excellent. Then why not a more positive name, like Jimmy the Enabler Esposito? Isn't that better? Super terrific!
- 01:09
Debbie Dander
Okay, Anthony Poodlecut Salerno Oh, Poodlecut, that's kind of a girly name, isn't it?
- 01:16
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
Poodle is the most virile of dog, Miss Dander
- 01:18
Debbie Dander
That's very interesting Anthony, what do you do in this organization?
- 01:22
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
I pull the trigger
- 01:23
Debbie Dander
So why not Anthony the Actualizer Salerno, huh? Super! Who's next? Little Vic. Now, Vic, we all know that height doesn't make a difference, don't we? Why not try presenting those same qualities in a more positive light? Vertically challenged Vic, huh?
- 01:38
Little Vic
I like Little Vic.
- 01:40
Debbie Dander
Well, Vic, maybe that's why your family sure of the crack cocaine market is so small. Isn't it time we all start thinking big?
- 01:49
Little Vic
Maybe if I was the Actualizer, we would be big. The Actualizer.
- 01:54
Debbie Dander
Communication gridlock here. Now, in order to interface more effectively, we have to be honest and specific, because honest plus specific equals super terrific. Vertically challenged, Vic, what specifically is the problem?
- 02:10
Little Vic
Okay, well, tell them Jimmy always gets to break the elbows and Anthony always gets to shoot the bullets, but I always gotta clean up.
- 02:16
Debbie Dander
Is there a reason that Jimmy and Anthony don't share in the cleanup responsibilities?
- 02:20
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
Vic's good at cleanup.
- 02:21
Debbie Dander
Well, maybe Vic has other talents, like shattering a kneecap or removing a thumb, huh? Which brings me to my next point. Is that how you always do it, with the firearms?
- 02:31
Little Vic
Pretty much, yeah. Oh, most of the time, yes.
- 02:32
Debbie Dander
I'm not livin' that up. When's the last time you pulled a tongue through a windpipe for a good old-fashioned Italian necktie? That really sends a message, doesn't it?
- 02:43
Jimmy "Ice" Esposito
She's got a point there. Yeah.
- 02:44
Debbie Dander
Now let's reinforce our new positive association by forming a hugging mill. Okay, Espositos, on your feet!
- 02:54
Debbie Dander
Okay, I'll go first. Jimmy? I'm glad you're on this team.
- 03:00
Little Vic
Jimmy, I'm glad you're on this team.
- 03:01
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
Jimmy, I'm glad you're on this team. Whoa, whoa, what the heck? Jimmy's carrying a wire! He called the police! That worked for the FBI! He called the police!
- 03:13
Debbie Dander
Jimmy, we were just talking about honesty, weren't we? And somebody's not being very honest!
- 03:19
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
Why don't we put in practice some of the things we just learned? Vic, how would you like to play the role of Actualizer?
- 03:24
Little Vic
I would love to if Anthony would play the role of the Enabler.
- 03:26
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
Oh, certainly. I will now disable Jimmy and enable Vic to execute him. But wait. Is there a stronger message we can send?
- 03:36
Little Vic
I put forth that we bring Jimmy to the top of a tall building and push him off and let him interface with the pavement.
- 03:44
Anthony "Poodlecut" Salerno
You know what I say to that? Super freaking terrific. Super freaking terrific.
- 03:54
Debbie Dander
Gentlemen, have a safe trip to your undisclosed place of execution. Oh, super dramatic.
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
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