one eye willy

You don't know how close to the mark that was. lol I almost got on here to tell ye all that mah ship had hit a reef and I were done fer! I woke up around 3am in tears last night because my throat was on fire. Couldn't swallow, couldn't talk, and felt like I had been run over by a truck. Remember I said I was singing meself hoarse? Well apparently that wasn't the case. It seems that immediately after hanging out with me one night to go over the party plans earlier in the week, the father of the birthday boy spent the next 3 days in bed with the flu. Lucky for me it decides to hit me like a cannonball the day of the party! I really thought I wasn't going to be able to get out of bed this morning... but the show must go on! Surprisingly enough, I was able to "turn off" the sickness while performing, and even kept up the bellowing, gravelly pirate voice all the way until the end of the party. As soon as I finished the "show" it was like someone flipped a switch, and I couldn't even manage to speak again and felt like I was about to pass-out. Ah well, alls well that ends well, aye? The kids and the parents loved it! The kids had a blast with the tug o war, the ballons, and the cannonbal game. Btw, balloon swords outside is not a good idea. They pop every time they touch the ground. Foam swords would have been the better choice. The best compliment I could get was the other parents thinking that I was some professional pirate, and not just a friend volunteering to help out. They were actually asking for my business card at the end. LOL The finishing touch was handing out the personalized certificates at the very end. They came out awesome with the tea-staining, rolled and tied with a strip of cloth. Anyways, here be a few pics. One of the certificates The cannonball game The pirate arriving at the party. (One a sidenote, the flag was originally in the parking lot for the guests to find the party, but someone had complained to the park ranger about being offended by a "Nazi" flag! Seriously?!? WTF! How stupid are people?!? The ranger was carrying it on her ATV when see came across me heading up the beach to join the party.) The missus also took some videos as well. She missed the cupcake "cake cutting", but the father was shooting video the whole time so I'm sure he got it. I try to get around to uploading one or two soon, but for right now, I'm gonna hit the sack. I feel like I've been held down and pumped full of bilgewater.

Brilliant! Ye may have a grown womanly body, but inside hides the mind of a 6yr old! (errr, I meant that in a good way)

Aye, the party be on the morrow. I've got the missus tagging along to take pics and maybe even some video. I'm hoping to have Charity's idea for a cannonball game finished tonight. It's a 3' x 4' board with holes cutout for the kids to toss black-painted whiffle-ball cannonballs through and "sink" the ship painted on it. (now I just have to paint the ship) I also took the certificates from wes1761's link and customized them for the "Gold Coast Caribbean Pirate University" and at the end of the day will confess upon the little powdermonkeys the title o' "Master of Piracy". I got a really good deal on a 23' x 3/4" fairly soft, blue and white striped rope for the Tug O' War so I figure to get 2 uses out o' it. One fer crew against crew battles, and again later fer a face-off against the Cap'n fer the key to the chest. I've been singin' meself hoarse all week learnin' "A Pirate Says Arrr!", "Drunken Sailor", and "Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me". I even went so far as to clean the rust offa mah rapier fer the cake-cutting afore I found out twern't gonna be no cake... only cupcakes. I was just informed last night that the party has grown from the original 6-10 kids to now 16-19 kids! The rub is that I only bought a dozen of each party favor, and most of 'em ain't readily available round these parts, so it looks like we might be doing a random filling of grabbags and hope that there not be any hard feelings at who gots what. It goin' ta be a looong night.... Oh, and one more time, Thanks a million to all of you fer the help, suggestions and wealth of experience! The only thing better than having you all here would be having you all on the beach with me tomorrow.

Thank you all so much! You lads and lasses are the best! Thanks for all the songs and suggestions you emailed as well. Charity, the party was moved to next Sunday so I still have some time left to learn the songs and bits, and finish making props. I definitely stumbled into the right place.

Dear God, Pegleg... that is so horrible and so awesome on so many levels. I have to say, you could probably make a killing nationwide as a pirate entertainer. I mean, seriously, how many other pirates have an actual pegleg?!? It's funny, we have more than one thing in common... You have a peg for a left leg, I have a metal rod running down the inside of my left thighbone from a motorcycle accident. (Woke up on the wrong side of a bridge wondering why my foot was up by my face.) I also bought the same bandana/wig you're wearing in those photos. LOL I'll post pics after the party... which has now been moved to next Sunday so I get another week to gather material. Btw, I like the idea of a pirate ship pinata. I was just going to dump some candy in the chest, but it would be so much better to fill the pinata instead and have the kids find that in the chest. Kinda like a present inside a present inside a present.... mmmmmm, I'm starting to crave some turducken now... Speaking of gathering material... does anyone know of some good pirate bits, gags or shows I could steal material from? Maybe a favorite pirate group or entertainer that has posted their show on their site or youtube, etc.? *** EDIT *** Bwahahahahaha!! I just noticed the dog in the second pic givin' yer leg a sniff like it's just about to lift it's leg. LOLOLOLOL

Many thanks Jas. You've convinced me to keep the Drunken Sailor son and just give a little change to the words. It's perfect. Easy enough for the kids to learn the chorus in a few minutes, funny enough lyrics to keep them entertained for a couple of minutes more. Cheers, Mate!

Sink me, Gertie! Yer post is like hitting a Spanish Galleon on the high Seas! So many ideas, so little time... what's a poor pirate to do? You have single-handedly filled in just about every questionable gap in my forsaken, ill-conceived plans. After finding the chest, the kids can put on the bandanas inside and we'll hoist the flag on the shovel handle for our pirate procession back to the party table with the treasure. Good time for a encore sing-a-long with the song the kids learned earlier. Love the ideas for spicing up the clues! That is the kind of detail that only comes with experience. Cheers! Cutting the cake with the sword is a golden moment... pure 24k gold. I have an old tarnished rapier leftover from my renny days that would be perfect. Typical cheap replica for hanging on the wall. Thin enough to slice a cake, but no sharp edges to endanger curious little fingers. The foam/plastic/inflatable swords was a thought I had a while ago before I passed the $100 mark in booty. Those things cost a couple of bucks each. Then I thought about the balloons... 20-30 swords for $2 total, and after practicing on them today, I think they are going to be the hit of the party. (I tested them tonight on another friend's 5yr old and she didn't want to stop after a solid 30 minutes of swordfighting. lol) They don't look that bad either, if I do say so meself... Oy! the skeleton holding the chest is a hoot! Sadly that's not in me budget... maybe if I were a once-a-week professional scallywag like yerself, it would be worth it.... but fer now, burying the chest is cheaper. On a side note, the necklace/pirate jewelry is looking good. I made one necklace tonight after drilling all the "doubloons". Certainly not authentic..., but perfect for a 6yr old's pirate party! I'm going to make a small, hinged wooden box to house the compass...ala Jack Sparrow's compass. Also, here is a shot with the bottle that will hold the treasure map. Damn! this is starting to get fun! Thanks fer the extra game ideas, Gertie. I like to have an extra keg o' powder in me arsenal just in case. Finally, yer words o' wisdom not be fallin' on deaf ears. Keeping the next activity a surprise is a tip that worth it's weight in gold. I know that every one of your side tips are rooted in actual life lessons so I'll be paying them the most mind. A thousand thanks are never enough!

Thanks Jas. Hook, Good suggestions. I really like the the tug o' war idea. All it takes is a rope, it fits with the theme, and gives the kids a way to "fight" the Cap'n and win the booty. I've already got a dozen skull and bones bandanas to go in the chest along with pirate eye patches, stickers, tattoos, stampers, pencils, telescopes, and a big Jolly Roger flag and skull goblet for the birthday boy. I also bought a bunch of "gold and silver" doubloons from a coin dealer on Ebay and after I drill some holes in them I'm going to put them in a bag with some cord and assorted beads so the kids can make their own pirate jewelry after finding the treasure. Lastly, I bought a pack of those long "balloon animal" balloons, and I plan to make the kids some pirate swords out of them so they can fight each other without losing an eye. I was wanting to do a sing-a-long and thought that "Drunken Sailor" would be an easy one for the kids to pick up on, but I'm wondering if there might be a more appropriate song for a bunch of 6-7yr olds?

Ahoy Maties! I'm hoping you all can help with some advice and suggestions. I've zero experience with piratey things, but agreed to play a pirate for a friend's 6yr old son's birthday party. The idea is to have him find a treasure map in a bottle on the beach. Then the pirate arrives and leads the kids on the hunt for buried treasure. Eventually we dig up a chest filled with candy, crafts and pirate novelty booty for the crew to split. Has anyone here played a pirate entertainer for a children's party before? If so, what suggestions do you have for songs, games, jokes, funny bits, etc.? I've already scoured the web for lame pirate jokes and memorized part of the Drunken Sailor song as a start. I'm not sure how long he wants me to hang out with the kids, but I'd like to have more than enough material to be on the safe side. The party is this Sunday, so don't wait to throw me your ideas. Cheers Mates!