True story: I was master of ceremonies for my primary school's nativity, playing everyone's favourite Christmas character, Pablo The Mexican Reindeer.
Each class did a little five minute show, and I - a ten year old, sombrero-wearing, reindeer child - came out in between each act, to sing and crack jokes in a Mexican accent that should have landed me in the Hague.
No pictures or videos survive from the performance, which is *extremely unlucky* since my dad was a camcorder fanatic, and had in fact been recording the official record of my school's plays and concerts for years. I've found the tape a few times but it doesn't play.
My big number was the opening song, introducing the parents of Nazareth House PS, Derry to the racially insensitive ungulate who'd be leading proceedings. Buried within my origin story was the claim that Santa can't speak Spanish - but presumably can speak every other language?? Image
I came out - playing maracas - while everyone sang the song. Greeted like a returning emperor, my gaze pitiless as the Mazatlán sun, I shook those shakers as I hopped about the stage, occasionally improvising with a "who, me?" when the feeling took me.
Don't remember much, just that my pronunciation of "meh-hee-co" garnered raves from all assembled. I also remember BBC's @keirontourish might have interviewed me as part of some story relating to nativities so I was on the local news. The jump from stage to screen? Effortless.
I also remember rehearsing pretty hard for it the week leading up, and getting to step out of regular classes for the duration. I ate my lunch with all my friends, dressed as a giant racist reindeer while they sat in their regular uniforms, jealous as all hell.
It would have been very easy for me to take off the outfit for the half hour my lunch lasted, but I was in the zone. I'd smelled the grease paint, beloved. I'd heard the roar of the crowd.

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More from @shockproofbeats

2 Nov
Huge news at my dad's house, as a robin has moved in. He has, somewhat inevitably, been named Pablo, after the novelty robin ornament he bought some Christmases ago, which had telescopic legs and a kind face. This robin too, appears friendly and professional. More updates to come
Pablo has been a visitor to my dad's garden for some time, but began entering the home this weekend. He flies back out the window frequently, but always returns, and he is now a free-roaming member of the household, gallivanting from room to room on regular tours of inspection.
Pablo loves music, with a particular predilection for the Northern Irish Country Music™ for which my homeland must be thoroughly, and regularly shamed.

For this, my father now loves him more ardently than any of his eleven children.
Read 10 tweets
1 Nov
In today's column I talk about my experience of Halloween growing up in Derry, and my son's rather limited go of it. But I *also* traffic in some thoroughly debunked Irish halloween myths, so I'd like to correct the record. theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…
Although Samhain did denote the start of winter, conflating it with Halloween is a relatively modern invention, without much actual evidence. Also, Irish emigrants to America did celebrate Hallowe'en, but so did the English, Welsh, others.
The conjecture that the veil between worlds was more permeable on Samhain, hence beasties, costumes and trick or treating, also seems to have appeared in the early 20th century. A nice story, but bolloxology alas.
Read 5 tweets
20 Oct
Probably that time the Daily Mail did a bullet-point scare job on me because I tricked Selfridges into printing rude words on some Nutella jars.
For the record I got SIX rude words printed in the end. The five below and also Turrdz. I managed the last three after the events detailed by the Daily Mail, during which time I was so well known to Selfridges I had to evade VERY ACTIVE surveillance whenever I entered the store.
My Nutella shenanigans did mean that a corporate spokesperson had to issue this statement about me, which was such a life highlight that it has now been my banner picture for almost five years.
Read 7 tweets
7 Apr
Want to hear a funny story about something that happened to me this weekend? It concerns the internet, elephants, and the absurdity of online nostalgia.
So, Naomi Wolf was getting pelters from me and others for having said that non-5G Belfast had the “calm” of the 1970s, (despite Belfast *having* 5G and the 70s not being the calmest of times for Belfast). It was really... something.
As a result, people in my mentions and throughout the wider web shared similarly “calm” photos from 70s Northern Ireland, rebranded with the stock phrases of those inane “Remember The Good Old Days?” memes. It was very funny.
Read 17 tweets
6 Jun 19
It's not conscious I know, but I've always found it odd to hear English people using the bastardised Irish surname "Hooligan" to decry their fans' worst behaviour. Every tournament. For days on end. While Irish fans sing songs and make friends without thinking of attacking anyone
Like the worst thing an English fan can be is a hooligan. And it's not a nonsense word to Irish people, it's a very recognisable corruption of names like Houlihan and Olohan. Because we're violent and disorderly. Irish people. Compared to...???
This would still be weird even if Irish football fans HAD a reputation for violence. But we don't. We're almost professionally sound. To the point were nearly sick of the mildly patronising coverage of us as happy, smiling chimps who are shit at football but make everybody smile.
Read 8 tweets
1 Jun 19
Here. Since @EmmetKirwan and @dave_tynan's unmissable DUBLIN OLD SCHOOL has now dropped on Netflix, anyone wanna hear how a small part of it is based on me, very high, mending a hole in a wall at a birthday party using only newspaper, plaster, an XtraVision card?
APRIL 2010. TEMPLE BAR, DUBLIN. Ordinarily the part of Ireland used to keep the geordie hen parties and American football fans away from the rest of us, tonight it is host to young Emmet, celebrating his 30th in a simple but spacious apartotel rented for just the purpose.
It was a weird time. The economy had shat the bed but we were still too numb to really deal yet. Everyone was either minimum wage or on the dole, and all social expectations on young people collapsed, and since we were stupid, this freed us instead to get extravagantly high.
Read 36 tweets

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