James must not only serve Miss Sophie the four courses à la russe mulligatawny soup, North Sea haddock, chicken and fruit but also serve the four imaginary guests the drinks chosen by Miss Sophie (sherry, white wine, champagne and port wine for the respective courses), slip into the role of each guest and drink a toast to Miss Sophie four times for each course. As a result, James becomes increasingly intoxicated and loses his dignified demeanour: he pours the drinks with reckless abandon, breaks into "Sugartime" by the McGuire Sisters for a brief moment, and at one point accidentally drinks from a flower vase, which he acknowledges with a grimace and exclaims "Oooh! I'll kill that cat!"
There are several running gags in the piece:
James frequently trips over the head of a tigerskin rug; as an additional embellishment, he walks past it in one instance to his own astonishment, but then stumbles over it on the way back. In another instance, he gracefully steps over it, and in the final instance, the tipsy James leaps over the head.
Sir Toby would like to have poured a small extra amount of each drink, and James complies with the request with initial politeness and then increasing sarcasm.
Miss Sophie expects James, as Admiral von Schneider, to knock his heels together with the exclamation "Skål!" (Scandinavian for "Cheers!"). Because this action proves painful, he asks each time whether he really has to, but obliges upon Miss Sophie's insistence. On one occasion James' feet miss each other, causing him to stumble.
Before each course, James asks (this gradually becomes a babble): "The same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?"; Miss Sophie replies "The same procedure as every year, James."
Finally, Miss Sophie concludes the evening with an inviting "I think I'll retire", to which James and Sophie repeat their exchange concerning the "same procedure". James takes a deep breath, turns to the audience with a sly grin and says "Well, I'll do my very best" before the pair retreat to the upper rooms. Both phrases "The same procedure as last year?" and "The same procedure as every year" are known to practically every German speaker that has some knowledge of English and have become part of the German language.
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