"Sister Mary Elephant" is a

comedy sketch Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and i ...

Cheech and Chong Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie ...

. The

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

appeared on the duo's second album, ''

Big Bambu : Big Bambú ''is also a work of art by the lettering artist, Walter Velez.'' ''Big Bambú'' is the second album by Cheech & Chong, released in 1972. The name ''Big Bambu'' is a reference to the actual Bambu brand of rolling paper. The origina ...

'', released in 1972. It was re-released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1973 and peaked at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1974. It is to date the only

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...

single to make the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The picture sleeve for the record was illustrated by Paul Gruwell.

Synopsis

The title character is an exceedingly prissy

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is ...

substitute teacher A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as "sub") is the most c ...

(played by

Cheech Marin :''The surname'' Marin ''is of Spanish language origin. In Spanish, it is spelled'' Marín'', with an acute accent on the'' í. Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin (born July 13, 1946) is an American actor, musician, comedian, and activist who gain ...

) teaching in a

parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The wor ...

("Our Lady of 115th Street")

classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

of exceedingly irreverent, noisy

teenage Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the ...

boys (all played by Cheech and

Tommy Chong Thomas B. Kin Chong (born May 24, 1938) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, musician, activist. He is known for his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, as well as playing the character Leo on Fox's ' ...

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 The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

singer

Sister Rosetta Tharpe Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics a ...

), who has sent her love and the artwork she is making:

fingerpaint Fingerpaint is a kind of paint intended to be applied with the fingers; it typically comes in tubes and is used by small children, though it has occasionally been used by adults either to teach art to children, or for their own use. Finger p ...

ings and dustcloths, indicating that she has likely been

institutionalized Institutionalization is a concept in sociology. It may also refer to: * Committing someone to a psychiatric hospital * Having the institutional syndrome, the psychological and mental health effects of living for a long time in an institution o ...

. 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 A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evide ...

. 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

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

s on "How I Spent My

Summer Vacation Summer vacation or summer break is a school break in summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are off anywhere between three weeks to three months. Depending on the country and district, staff might be parti ...

". 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 Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...

, then

hung out ''Hung Out'' is a British situation comedy which aired in 2010 as part of the Channel 4 Comedy Lab ''Comedy Lab'' is a British television series which showcases pilots of experimental comedy shows. Series have been aired irregularly on Chan ...

in front of the

drugstore A pharmacy (also called "drugstore" in American English or "community pharmacy" or "chemist" in Commonwealth English, or rarely, apothecary) is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmac ...

. 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 Verbatim means word for word. Verbatim may also refer to: * Verbatim (brand), a brand of storage media and flash memory * Verbatim (horse), an American racehorse * ''Verbatim'' (magazine), edited by Erin McKean * Verbatim theatre, a form o ...

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 Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

. The class responds with their usual razzing then fall silent except for scattered

snoring Snoring is the vibration of respiratory structures and the resulting sound due to obstructed air movement during breathing while sleeping. The sound may be soft or loud and unpleasant. Snoring during sleep may be a sign, or first alarm, of obs ...

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

The character of Sister Mary Elephant reappeared in a later Cheech and Chong skit, "Sergeant Stadanko", on their ''

Los Cochinos ''Los Cochinos'' ("The Pigs") is a 1973 comedy album recorded by Cheech & Chong. The Spanish term ''cochino'' is a derogatory way of referring to a pig, as it also means "dirty", in contrast to ''cerdo'', a more neutral word for a pig as an animal ...

'' 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 Oregano (, ; ''Origanum vulgare'') is a species of flowering plant in the mint family Lamiaceae. It was native to the Mediterranean region, but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Oregano is a woody perennial pla ...

packaged as

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...

. The students begin fighting and Sister Mary beseeches Stadanko to intervene. Stadanko sheepishly informs her that he will call the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

. On the compilation album '' Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit'', "Sister Mary Elephant" and "Sergeant Stadanko" appear back-to-back.

Legacy

The "SHUT UP!" portion was used as a

sound bite A sound bite or soundbite is a short clip of speech or music extracted from a longer piece of audio, often used to promote or exemplify the full length piece. In the context of journalism, a sound bite is characterized by a short phrase or sentence ...

on ''

Imus in the Morning ''Imus in the Morning'' was a long-running radio show hosted by Don Imus. The show originated on June 2, 1968, on various stations in the Western United States and Cleveland, Ohio before settling on WNBC radio in New York City in 1971. In Octob ...

''.

References

{{Authority control Comedy sketches Comedy theatre characters Mary Elephant Mary Elephant Novelty songs Nuns in fiction Cheech and Chong songs Song recordings produced by Lou Adler Ode Records singles Female characters in theatre Theatre characters introduced in 1972