The clown who turned frowns upside down on Culture Night

IT’S a special type of human that can keep hundreds of people of all ages and stages of life enthralled without uttering a word, using just balloons, a backing track, and amateur actors plucked from the audience...

But last Friday night, Portuguese clown, Pedros Tochas, transformed the cold corner of Cornmarket Street and Kyle Street into a warm amphitheatre of laughter, fun and entertainment that would have evoked a standing ovation had the audience not already been standing.

Straining my neck to watch the melodramatic antics being played out, it was clear we were watching a master mime who could play the crowd as easily as his balloon violin.

He picked four unsuspecting members of the audience to help him tell a tale of romance, villainy, death and resurrection, and somehow managed to choose four people with excellent comedic talent. Or punters who were simply willing to be silly in front of hundreds of strangers.

Could he tell by just looking at them that they would be good at physical comedy, or did he just pick them because they were tall and the people at the back of the crowd could see them? Or, is there a clown in all of us that just needs to be unleashed by a Portuguese street performing expert?

Regardless, they were highly entertaining amateur performers, particularly the ‘baddie’ who took to his Quasimodo-esque role with gusto and committed to brandishing his balloon sword like a musketeer.

Looking around at the circle of happy faces enjoying the unfolding drama was a powerful reminder that this is what humans need. A story, fun, laughter, performance.

It’s why we delight in music and comedy, why we buy books and watch box sets, why we go to a play or a gig.

Arts, music, creativity, play and imagination are core human functions and without them life is hard. Modern living often doesn’t leave much room for them and collectively enjoying events like Culture Night remind us that there is more to life than paying the bills.

As a teenager, I used to think the expression ‘running away to join the circus’ was a negative way of describing copping out of life’s commitments for an uncertain and insecure life on the road. I now completely see the appeal of a life steeped in physical literacy and mastery, bringing joy, connection and fun to communities around the country or world.

Maybe it’s not too late for me to join the circus!

Pedros Tochas wasn’t the only highlight of Culture Night. It was fitting to start the evening in the Millennium Hall of City Hall. The last time I was there I was looking at a room full of 40-year-olds, wondering if I knew any of them, or if any of them would faint after their Covid-19 vaccination.

It was an absolute pleasure to sit there a year later watching jugglers knock roses from their colleagues’ mouths!

There was also a very entertaining puppet in the Crawford Gallery giving tours of the latest exhibition, and the voice of David Attenborough ringing out across Emmet Place as part of the Joan Denise Moriarty School of Dance performance would have pleased the climate strikers from earlier in the day.

The Cork City Samba band had smallies shaking all over at the Marina Market and overall the return of the full capacity, post-pandemic Culture Night on a fine September evening was as fun and joyful as I expected.

Múch na soilse

I don’t know why, but the Irish phrase ‘múch na soilse’ is a much nicer way of saying ‘turn off the lights’. Somehow, it’s more playful and less naggy.

Maybe it’s because ‘múch’ for ‘quench’ sounds a bit like ‘muc’, which means ‘pig’, and my brain makes some juvenile connection and extracts a modicum of humour.

Or maybe it’s because Gaeilge is a language born out of hardship and oppression and turning off the lights doesn’t seem like the greatest sacrifice in the greater scheme of things.

But whatever the reason, the instruction to turn off the lights just sounds better as Gaeilge.

Needless to say, we’ve been saying ‘múch na soilse’ a lot in our house lately. As a child of the ’80s, I can reboot my frugality memory muscle quite easily and am going around turning off lights as soon as a room is vacated.

I’m checking the weather forecast for the ‘good drying’ days and letting the laundry pile up until then to avoid using the tumble dryer, and I’m stuffing my dishwasher to the gills before turning it on.

My electricity bill actually came down €20 between July and September, so small steps definitely add up.

However, with the latest energy price hikes kicking in at the start of October, the next bill is likely to make me wince.

From my years working on The Consumer Show, I have zero loyalty to any utility provider and switch as soon as soon my contract ends. I’ve never understood why companies are happy to waste so much administrative time closing old accounts and opening new ones, but this is the crazy world we live in.

So, this week, if you haven’t done it already, set aside 20 minutes to use one of the price comparison websites such as bonkers.ie, switcher.ie or powertoswitch.ie, to change your energy provider if you’re out of contract, ring in your meter readings and save yourself hundreds of euro.

And keep múch-ing na soilse!