Oh ‘Come’ Ye Merry Gentlemen (snigger)

On Saturday was the Carlton Christmas Party, organised by Ruth, with the help of a motley bunch of us. Once again it was a marvellous transformation of a crummy municipal room into glittering grotto of festive delights. It’s amazing what 20 metres of tinsel and red and green tablecloths can do. Add to the mix some appropriate music (why did glam rock lend itself so well to the Christmas spirit?), some suitably drunk people and a huge buffet, and the scene was set for a fantastic night.

It wasn’t complete without the pantomime of course. That quaint British tradition of taking a nice little children’s story and adding crude jokes to it until it collapses under the weight into chaos. This year’s was written by your humble narrator, assembling the ideas from a brainstorming, barrel-scraping and sewer-cleaning evening at Ruth’s. These panto’s actually turn out to be more of an exercise in cramming as many double- and single-entendres into 10 minutes as possible. Went down a storm.

Another bonus was not doing a Grease or Rocky Horror song this year. Believe me, you’ve got to get your relief where you find it.

Here’s to a great party and a brave new year.