1973 single by Cheech and Chong
"Sister Mary Elephant"
is a
comedy sketch
by
Cheech and Chong
. The
recording
appeared on the duo's second album,
Big Bambu
, released in 1972.
[2]
It was re-released as a
single
in 1973 and peaked at No. 24 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
in early 1974.
[3]
It is one of very few entirely
spoken-word
recordings (with no singing or musical accompaniment) to make the top 40 of the
Billboard
Hot 100.
[4]
The picture sleeve for the record was illustrated by Paul Gruwell.
Synopsis
[
edit
]
The title character is an exceedingly prissy
nun
substitute teacher
(played by
Cheech Marin
) teaching in a
parochial school
("Our Lady of 115th Street")
classroom
of exceedingly irreverent, noisy
teenage
boys (all played by Cheech and
Tommy Chong
through overdubbing). She attempts to teach the class, but the boys totally ignore her. She then tries to get the students' attention by speaking increasingly loudly, to no avail. When she finally screams, "SHUT UP!" at the top of her lungs, in startling contrast to her usually placid manner, dead silence ensues. She follows this with a once again prissy "Thank you". This becomes a running joke throughout the skit.
Sister Mary Elephant announces that she is the substitute for their regular teacher, Sister Rosetta Stone (a pun on both the
Rosetta Stone
and
gospel
singer
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
), who has sent her love and the artwork she is making:
fingerpaintings
and
dustcloths
, indicating that she has likely been
institutionalized
. After introducing herself, the class erupts in laughter upon hearing her name, prompting a repetition of the "SHUT UP!"/"Thank you" routine. Sister Mary Elephant then asks a student to give her his
knife
. He complies, but not quite the way she had in mind (it is heard flying and sticking in the wall with a twang). She responds with another prissy "Thank you". She continues to try to teach the class, during which they continue talking, necessitating further repetitions of her screaming.
Sister Mary Elephant tells the class that they will read their previously assigned
essays
on "How I Spent My
Summer Vacation
". She chooses one boy (Chong), who stands up and reads in a monotone voice how on the first day he woke up, went downtown to look for a
job
, then
hung out
in front of the
drugstore
. Another student (voiced by Cheech) asks if it's the one on 13th but gets no answer. Chong repeatedly describes this same daily routine
verbatim
for each day of his vacation as well. Sister Mary tries to get the student to stop reading, but he ignores her and continues, finally noting that on the third day he got a job keeping people from hanging out in front of the drugstore. Sister Mary beseeches the boy to "SHUT UP!" before he can continue any further. A student (Chong) had started asking to "go to the can", and does so repeatedly during the students reading but is ignored entirely by Sister Mary. Several times the sound of flatulence is heard implying he has diarrhea or that the students are making fart sounds.
Sister Mary Elephant then reads from a book of excessively flowery
poetry
. The class responds with their usual
razzing
then fall silent except for scattered
snoring
after a few verses. In a variation on the running joke, she screams for the class to "WAKE UP!" The sketch ends here with Chong declaring "I gotta go to the can, man."
Sergeant Stadanko
[
edit
]
The character of Sister Mary Elephant reappeared in a later Cheech and Chong skit, "Sergeant Stadanko", on their
Los Cochinos
album. The nun introduces the titular narcotics officer (Chong) as a guest speaker. Her rowdy classroom immediately falls silent at the mention of Stadanko's profession. Later one student (Cheech)
rats out
another student, Billy (Chong), to Stadanko for selling him
oregano
packaged as
marijuana
. The students begin fighting and Sister Mary beseeches Stadanko to intervene. Stadanko sheepishly informs her that he will call the
police
.
On the compilation album
Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit
, "Sister Mary Elephant" and "Sergeant Stadanko" appear back-to-back.
Legacy
[
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]
The "SHUT UP!" portion was used as a
sound bite
on
Imus in the Morning
.
References
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]
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Albums
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Compilations
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Singles
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Film series
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Related articles
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