I just had a great idea for a restaurant gag last week when I was at the local eatry I have a weekly gig at.
I came up with the "Clean Plate Club"!
Now just wait, before you tell me that this is already a time honored society and you have been a long outstanding member of this club for years. Let me tell you my idea.

Normally, as with a lot of kids, Mom has trouble making them sit down and eat. But last week I thought wouldn't it be great if I could present them with an official certificate and make a big deal out of cleaning their plate?
So I whipped a certificate with all kinds of "*blank* has succesfully met the requirements and followed the time honored rules of the society known as the clean plate club"
And when I spot a clean plate, I can ham it up with an official presentation, with full kazoo fanfare, and then take their picture which I can tape up on a piece of posterboard and hang in the lobby of the restaurant. I thought about throwing confetti or something, but I don't want to make a mess that the servers have to clean up. Maybe I can have an official ledger or members book that the kid can sign.

This serves to do 3 things...
A. It is just plain fun for the kids and me.
2. Encourages kids to clean their plate.
D. Will make the kid excited to come back the restaurant to see their picture on the board.
(which makes the man signing the checks for me happy)

I just made up the certificates and am going to try it out on Thursday.
Feel free to steal this idea, and post any other good restaurant walkaround gags you have.

-Flip

Great Idea! Make sure you get the parents permission both to take the photo and display it. Here in the UK failiour to gain such permission would break our child safety regulations. You could even find copyright issues related to the photo idea. Be careful regarding the display of names or any other information which can identify the children. Personally I'd just go with the certificate.

I really kike the idea it helps promote you and the restraunt

let us know how it works!

Sounds good.

great Idea I love it .

I always thought a good restaurant Walkaround gag would be to have a couple a large pieces a bread cut out a foam and a wooden baseball bat. You could tell everyone it's the
CLUB SANDWICH. 8O

Also, you could make a large fork and walk around asking folks if they were going to finish whats on their plate.

Just a thought,,,,,

Great idea Sam!
I was thinking, You could also use a club playing card, or that I was thinking. a large cut out of a "Club"

found this neat little trick at a magic shop called the cookie crumble, you make a penny turn into a dime or into a small penny. The shop own stated clowns loved it because you could give the dimes away to kids, I tried it. It's small enough for walk arounds easy to reload quickly and good for up close, thought I'd pass it along.

I've been eyeballing the big sandwich on the shelf at the Magic Juggler Shop in Albuquerque for a couple of months now. It looked so big and tasty and foamy. Now it's mine! It's totally spongealicious! The next question is "What do I do with it???"
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r149/haunteddollman/11-9-07003.jpg
It didn't come with any instructions, but thats not a bad thing. Sometimes it's the instructions on props and magic tricks that turns them into duds. What you do get is this: http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r149/haunteddollman/11-9-07005.jpg
2 slices of White bread, two slices of swiss cheese, "ham" shaped like a pig, "turkey" shaped like a turkey, and a hand painted piece of foam lettuce. There are so many funny bits and jokes and tricks and lines that can go along with this prop! http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r149/haunteddollman/11-9-07006.jpg

Wow, what a great idea!

You could also put a large playing card club on a paper plate (clean plate club) and use them instead of certificates and put their name on them and hang them up. It would take some time to put them together, but if you had someone help you, it could become an assembly line.

(I know my granddaughter would never get one).

I know you all don't see me often, but I've been busy with my "day job". I am now positioning myself to do clowning full time!! So, I'm always looking for good ideas for restaurants and parties. Thanks, y'all.
Jubilee (In Texas and then home to the DC area at the end of 2007!)