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12 Days Not a Slave
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.
The setup
Watch on YouTube
Watch onYouTube
The premise
Here’s the bit.
Over a period-drama title crawl about the Emancipation Proclamation, Cecil announces he is twelve days free and expects everyone to share his joy. His friend Zachary, a Canadian, urges him to head north, but Cecil loves the South and starts eyeing the women at a nearby table. The bar turns hostile, the bartender will not serve him, and Cecil’s former plantation acquaintance Jasper glares from across the room. Zachary explains that racism outlasted slavery and warns him against dancing in public, Cecil shrugs off the warnings with a dance of his own, and the two leave with Cecil finally admitting the price of freedom is higher than he thought.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 8
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
How is everybody doing? My name is Cecil and I'm 12 days free.
Do not let white people see you dance.
I guess I never realized the price of being free.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:01
On January 1st, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, thus beginning the process of freeing all enslaved men. While this was cause for great celebration for African Americans, it did not mean the transition was a smooth one. This is the story of one man in 12 Days Not a Slave.
- 00:22
Cecil
How is everybody doing? My name is Cecil and I'm 12 days free. Great, okay, listen, and I'm sure you're about as happy about it as I am.
- 00:35
Cecil
High five. Nope. Okay. How about you? Nope. How about you, my man? Down low? Nope. Okay.
- 00:43
Zachary
Cecil, Cecil, come over here.
- 00:46
Cecil
Zachary, how you doing? Lucky, lucky to see you, man.
- 00:51
Cecil
Zachary, man, look, man, I am sorry I'm so late. I had to walk the whole way. I did not realize how hard it was to hail a buggy in this town.
- 00:59
Zachary
Yeah, I know, but it's okay. Okay, just, Cecil, Cecil, I thought that I talked to you about going up north.
- 01:07
Cecil
Well, I was on my way up north, but then it hit me. I'm from the south, I love the south, and now I'm free. What possible reason would there be for me to leave the south? Bartender. Okay.
- 01:22
Zachary
Cecil, Cecil, Cecil, listen to me. Things are, you know, I don't know how to put this, still a little tense around here.
- 01:29
Cecil
Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. Oh, look at those girls over there. They are checking me out.
- 01:35
Cecil
Hey, should we go over there and talk to them?
- 01:38
Zachary
No, no, no, no, no.
- 01:39
Cecil
You know, because, listen, I've had all the flavors from chocolate to dark chocolate, but now that I'm a free man, I might as well...
- 01:47
Zachary
No, no, no, no, Cecil, please, don't talk about flavors. Don't...
- 01:49
Woman
Excuse me, sir? Are you staring at me?
- 01:53
Cecil
With all due respect, ma'am, you are a little bony for my taste. I was looking at your friend.
- 01:59
Catherine
Oh, me?
- 02:01
Woman
She's not interested. Well... Catherine!
- 02:04
Catherine
I'm sorry, but these have been the best 12 days of my life.
- 02:09
Woman
You you take off, friend, and get on out of here.
- 02:21
Cecil
Okay. Oh, okay. I see what this is all about. It's because he's Canadian, right? You should be ashamed of yourselves. Then on behalf of my American brethren, I apologize. Let's toast. Bartender.
- 02:39
Bartender
Nope.
- 02:39
Cecil
Okay.
- 02:40
Zachary
Cecil, Cecil, listen to me. They're not upset because I'm Canadian or that I'm here. They're upset because you're here.
- 02:49
Cecil
What are you talking about?
- 02:50
Zachary
Just because you're a free man doesn't mean that everybody is happy about it yet.
- 02:56
Cecil
Oh, come on. I mean, I get that they will be mad for the first couple of days, but it's been two weeks.
- 03:04
Zachary
Shh.
- 03:04
Cecil
And by the way, if anyone should be mad about it, I think it should be me, okay? Not that I would play that card. Oh, look, it's Jasper from our old plantation. Hey, Jasper. Hey, Jasper. Jasper, over here. No hard feelings, baby. Aw, don't be a sore loser. That's just how it breaks, man. Aw, man, he can't see me.
- 03:26
Zachary
No, he sees you. He sees you. They all see you. Believe me.
- 03:29
Cecil
Yeah, everybody but the bartender.
- 03:32
Bartender
Hey, hey, man. Look, if you want to get served, then you best go to the back.
- 03:38
Cecil
You hear that? The VIP. We're fine here, but while I have you, I would like a
- 03:45
Zachary
okay. Listen, Cecil, your faith in mankind is admirable, but it's a mistake to think that racism ended with slavery. Racism will probably endure for a few more years, maybe even a couple more centuries.
- 03:59
Cecil
Hey, hold on, man. This is my song. I think I'm going to start a dance party.
- 04:02
Zachary
No, no, no, no, no. Listen. Do not let white people see you dance. Once they see you dance, they will try and dance like you.
- 04:09
Cecil
What? What do you mean? They'll never be able to dance like me.
- 04:13
Zachary
Of course they won't, but they'll try and they'll try, Cecil. And when they do, it will be a catastrophe. Just look at these women.
- 04:31
Cecil
I guess I never realized the price of being free.
- 04:34
Zachary
It's complicated. What do you say we get out of here?
- 04:38
Cecil
Deal. I was just thinking. You think the next president will be black?
- 04:43
Zachary
I-I don't think it will be the next one.
- 04:46
Cecil
Oh, it's been two weeks!
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
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