If you've not had a chance to sponsor a round, don't worry! We will gladly accept tombola prizes for the final in March. Remember... the aim is to raise as much money as possible for the orphanage....and to have fun while we're doing it.
Good news for the soon-to-be-winner of Round V. The bottle this week is sponsored by GrantHill Telecom Solutions, a local company that provides a one-stop source for managing the entire lifecycle of wireless network. It provides complete solutions that serve the traditional network, third and fourth-generation technologies, triple-play (voice, data, and services) and specialized applications for microwave communications. Way over my head but then lucky for them, I don't work there! Thanks very much, young Malcolm, him with the lovely hair.
If you've not had a chance to sponsor a round, don't worry! We will gladly accept tombola prizes for the final in March. Remember... the aim is to raise as much money as possible for the orphanage....and to have fun while we're doing it. Thanks to PhD Media for sponsoring the room rental for Round V of the Gift of the Gab. Much appreciated. Good luck to Wednesday's competitors. It promises to be an interesting event with two women, two brothers, and a Kiwi battling it out for that coveted last spot in the final.
What a night. Two records made and a roomful of happy punters at the end of the night. Round IV of GOTG saw actor Gaston Vadasz regale a packed room with talk of his change in direction in life ... at the tender age of 60. Images of him as the Archbishop of Canterbury are etched on my brain. Ailsa Spindler entertained us with a tale of two carriages - her account of a train journey from Istanbul to London. Viki Vegh reminisced about her year in Ireland, while Richard Holmes debated the merits of being fat or fit. Lasting images of a fit, naked Richard, are now competing in my brain with the Archbishop! Finally Owen Good fought valiantly against the sterotype of the Irish male and acquainted us all with the concept of out-Irishing someone.
Heading into the second half, the audience proved its worth and a slew of difficult topics followed. First up, Gaston had to face Why Ireland is more successful than Hungary and The flu. The audience chose the latter and we all learned something about the ailments of aging actors and that phobia Hungarians have about draughts. Next up, the audience had no problem deciding that they'd rather hear Viki talk about a first exprience with sex than the relatively tamer topic of trust. And Viki obliged. Beware the dangers of peppermint! Ailsa showed true dexterity when she managed to turn the audience's choice of Craziness in elections into something entertaining and worth listening to. Her other option? The fiscal cliff! Rather cruelly, methinks, the audience served Owen Italian men rather than boxers or briefs and this proved a tad difficult for the man in the woolly jumper. Richard had to go back for a recheer to decide the audience call for Langos over An embarrassing experience. When the judges - Virginia, Zsuzsa, Matt, Pat, and Zsolt - had done their bit and Jeremy had totalled the scores, we had two ties with the difference between first and fifth just three points! This was our closest competition ever. Time penalties were rigorously applied (to those who ran over and ran under) and the net result was a speech-off between Viki and Owen. The subject? Sexy Bald Men. Owen morphed into a cute baby cub bear during his account of a Christmas party featuring a cuddly Canadian chap named George. Viki talked of the need for balance in body baldness and the virtues of a having a hairy back. In our first, ever, clean sweep of straight 10s, Viki secured her place in the final on March 14th. Thanks to all who participated, judged and those who came along to support the cause. Thanks to Kath for doing the door, Ilona for her stewardship, Jeremy for his regulating, Steve for his photographs, and David for the webmanagement. Thanks particularily to our sponsors: Bombay Express, Gerard Lucey, and the IHBC. See ye all next month. Same time, same place. Bombay Express is relaunching and opening in January in a new location and in a new Avatar. And to celebrate, Raj is sponsoring the bottle for the Round IV GOTG winner along with dinner for two at The Bombay Express Curry Bar & Bistro located on Andrassy ut. 28 - next to Burberry. Solid, flavourful food served just the way you like it ! And for District VIII people, he's also opening in Corvin Setany in Spring 2013 ... Nice one, Raj. Thanks!
Round III of the Gift of the Gab was an evening full of surprises. Gerard Lucey, President of the IHBC, answered the nation's call and stepped up on stage to fill in for a last-minute cancellation. His speech dealt, rather appropriately, with surprises. Next up, Viriginia Proud called on us all to do our bit to help Ikea take over the world - on first-name terms with the delivery boys, Virginia struck a chord with the audience as she looked at the social ramifications of globalised furniture. [You get it all at GOTG!] Csaba Kötcsei gave us the inside scoop Gyula - King of the Gym and part-time robber - in a hilarious account of the Auchan heist. Howard Cohen gave us a peek at his memoirs and had the punchline of the evening: 'And that was the night I shared a bed with Stevie Wonder'. Last up, Hans Peterson dealt with the heady topics of religion, a mid-life crisis, and Facebook cleverly intertwined.
Moving into the second half, the audience wasn't interested in Hallow'een and wanted Howard to speak about his best revenge. Again, the man gets it for the punchline: 'And that was the night I shared a tent with Viktor Orban'. [When do advance copies of those memoirs go on sale, Howard?] Next up, Csaba drew two tough ones - My little pony and Hamlet. The audience was in fine fettle and determined to get its money's worth so my little pony won out. Gerard picked stranded in the desert but the audience was more interested in his worst dating experience. Despite Howard having set the scene for revelations, Gerard wasn't very forthcoming - he obviously has a charmed dating history. Virginia's draw was a surprise in that the audience wanted to hear about themselves - the audience - rather than dominatrices. She captured the hearts and minds of all present with her tribute to audiences everywhere. Hans had a choice between football and travelling and getting used to new countries and the audience chose the latter. It's funny how the phrase 'staying on topic' means different things to different people. It was a great night - with some great speeches. Everyone was in fine form and the judges - Ágnes, Dani, James, Erika, and Kirstin - gave out some interesting scores which kept people talking long after the last speaker had left the stage. The prize - generously sponsored by the IHBC and Little Britain - went to Hans Peterson, who takes his place in the final in March. Thanks again to all involved - to Steve for the photos, Kath for the door, Ilona for collecting the topics, Jeremy for scoring, and David for the web updates. A huge thanks to Milestone Management for sponsoring the room rental and to two very generous donors (they wish to remain anonymous) who doubled this week's takings. A whopping 211 000 forints go into the kitty. Public Service Announcements: Marianne Powell plugged the Secret Theatre Club. Wayne Brett put out the call for Hungarian actors for his forthcoming play. Attila Szabo talked up Budapest Toastmasters and Bea Bincze asked for help packing 1000 Christmas bags. We're back in January with a full line-up and a few familiar faces. See ye then. Beannachtaí na Nollaig daoibh go léir The post-mortem will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm still reeling from the fact that we have raised a whopping 211 000 forint for Round III. Thanks to two very hefty anonymous donations and others also contributing to the cause, we added substantially to the door takings of 96 000. To those of you who paid for two when there was only one of you; to those of you who donated in the name of a private cause; and to those of you who pushed us to these new heights - a heartfelt thank you. Virginia Proud nailed it tonight in her impromptu on the audience - you are what makes it happen.
A huge thanks to Milestone Management for sponsoring the room rental this month. Kamilla has been to the first two rounds this year and was impressed enough with the event and the charity it supports, to stump up a rent cheque. Nice one! She's into everything: freightforwarding, project management, expediting, recruitment. Little Britain (aka Tim Child & Co.,) have graciously supplied the bottle of booze so we're all set.
Looking forward to seeing ye all there next Wednesday at 7:30pm. Yet another night of stellar entertainment that put more money in the coffers for the Orphanage Fund. A huge thanks to the five brave souls who were commandeered and so willingly gave 8 minutes of their lives to entertain the 80 or so people who showed up tonight at the Cotton Club for Round II of the 2013 Gift of the Gab.
First up was the last-minute stand-in Attila Szabó. Atis very graciously agreed to take Hans Peterson's place when Hans was captured by vampires mid-last-week. No stranger to the stage, Atis regaled us with tales of his experience as a Wedding Emcee, particularly in intercultural situations. No one is still quite clear which half of the Irish Hungarian wedding was Irish. Next up was Zoran Spisljak, the man responsibile for bringing Debrecen to the Champion's league... and that's the whole of Debrecen, including the néni with her Tesco's shopping bag. Third in the draw was Emese Doboyni who took us on a tour of the ghettos of Ghana and gave us some food for thought. Tis not for nothing that they named her the Iron Lady. Ken White was in the fourth slot and shared his experiences of working in a call centre here in Budapest. Seems like they could do with a scriptwriter to account for what to say when trying to selll life insurance to those recently deceased. Finally Tim Child took to the stage and built his talk around the classic quote - England and American are two nations divided by the one language. [MM: And it had a beginning, a middle, and an end - someone finally listened....] Heading in to the second half, where public speaking morphs into speaking in public, Emese was first to draw. She went for her first topic - Buda or Pest - and having listened to the comments from the judges (a particularly tough panel tonight) she made full use of the stage as she made her case as a Buda gal living in Pest. Next up, Atis had went for the double and let the audience choose between The wart on my big toe and Bacterial Love. The audience was determined to test him and he did a great job of explaining bacterial love in the hightest-scoring speech of the night. Next up Ken had a choice between Three wishes from a goldfish and the Worst chat-up lines. The audience plumbed for the latter .... and man, were those chat-up lines baaaaad! Zoran had a choice between Budapest clubs and tattoos and the audience went for tattoos. Talk about a last-minute save! That notion of having the Queen tattoed on one side of his chest, and Lady Diana on the other and living with the confronation - inspired. Tim drew The perfect penalty shot and The benefits of marriage. As no great lover of football and with one marriage behind him and another under negotation, the audience went for the benefits. Tim's still in negotiation. The judges - Josie (New Zealand), Patrick (Scotland), Tunde (Hungary), Viktor (Hungary), and Eve (Norway) - took account of the audience's reaction... for the most part. A few stray points were handed out for nice asses, great earrings, and loud shirts (ahem) and at times it seemed as some had been in a different room - but that's what puts the slam into the Gift of the Gab. It's about impressions. It's unpredictable. And it's never boring. Thanks again to our sponsors this evening: IHBC for the trophy, Donal and Mirtil Kerry for the bottle of Jameson, and Jack Doyle's for picking up the room rental tab. Thanks also to the crew - Jeremy, Ilona and Kath - and a huge thank you to the anonymous donor who gave above and beyond and pushed this week's takings over the 100k mark. Yes - we have added 110,000 forints to the kitty for the Orphanage. Those new doors are becoming a reality. Best of all though, FOUR MORE PEOPLE, all inspired by the success of our non-native-English-speaking competitors, volunteered to take to the stage in January and February which means that just two rounds in, spaces are limited! {Be still my beating heart....] So if you're thinking about it - now's the time to get moving. Oops - I nearly forgot... and the winner this month, securing a place in the final in March, is Zoran Spisljak. Congrats to all and a HUGE HUGE thank you to everyone for turning up tonight and making this event such a success. Ta very much to Charles and Elvi at Jack Doyle's who will pick up the tab for the room rental for Round II of the GOTG next Wednesday, October 24th. Nice one, lads. Much appreciated. With sponsors like this, it means that literally every forint taken at the door goes to the Orphanage. mmmm - could this be a new business model in the making? We raised 80 000 ft last month and aim to do the same, if not better, this month. So bring your friends, your mothers, your grannies,e even your next-door neighbours...
We've a great line-up (one minor modification to the menu will publish later this week) and some great speeches to be heard - not that I've heard any of them - I'm just going on form. Where's the bookie when you need one, eh? There's a lovely looking bottle of Jameson sitting inside my front door, dropped off today by Mr Donal Kerry and donated by the good man himself and his wife Mirtil and the booze prize for the successful Round II contestant. They've not yet been to the Gift of the Gab but are promising to take a trip in from the Budapest hinterlands one Wednesday night and check it out themselves. It's great to see that those who haven't witnessed the marvel that is GOTG first hand are eager and willing to support the cause. Nice one, lads. Thanks!
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