Kivi's Favourite Warmups

Peter Piper

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
Then where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

Thistle Sifting

I'm not a thistle sifter
Nor a thistle sifter's son
But I'll be sifting thistles
Till the thistle sifting's done

The Bugs Bunny Overture (This is It!)

Overture, curtain, lights,
This is it, the night of nights
No more rehearsing and hearsing our parts
We know every part by heart
Overture, curtain, lights
This is it, we'll hit the heights
And oh what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it

Tonight what heights we'll hit
On with the show this is it.

Rick-a-bam-boo

A rick-a-bam-boo.
Now what is that?
It's something made
For the Princess Pat.
It's red! It's gold!
It's purple, too!
That's why it's called
A rick-a-bam-boo.

The Princess Pat
Lived in a tree.
She sailed across
The seven seas.
She sailed across
The channel too,
And she took with her
A rick-a-bam-boo.

A rick-a-bam-boo…

Now the Captain John
And his loyal crew,
They sailed across
The channel too.
But their ship sank,
And yours will too
If y'all don't take
A rick-a-bam-boo.

A rick-a-bam-boo…

In case you were wondering about the history of the last warmup….

I learned it at the University of Waterloo's theatre group, FASS. I'm not sure where they got it, but I have met other people who have learned it as a song at camp or at Girl Guides.

What's the original source? Believe it or not, the Canadian military. The Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, actually, widely known as the Princess Pats. Their Camp Colour is the "Ric-A-Dam-Doo" (Gaelic for "cloth of thy mother"). It is indeed red, and gold, and blue (or purple) too.

I don't know who made up the chant, or came up with the motions, or at what point the words left the music behind. I also don't know how "The Princess Pat's Light Infantry" became "The Princess Pat lived in a tree", or how "Ric-A-Dam-Doo" became "Rick-a-bam-boo" (or, in some sources, "Rig of bamboo"). But I do know it's a rousing good chant, and a good bit of fun.

Further reading: