{"id":617,"date":"2021-12-08T10:54:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T15:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wanderofwanders.com\/?p=617"},"modified":"2025-08-26T13:15:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T17:15:01","slug":"a-very-authentically-irish-holiday-extravaganza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderofwanders.com\/index.php\/2021\/12\/08\/a-very-authentically-irish-holiday-extravaganza\/","title":{"rendered":"A ‘very authentically Irish’ holiday extravaganza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Host Ryan Tubridy as the meerkat Timon in the opening number of this year’s show from The Lion King.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As an American, I feel I may be presumptuous, dare I say even brazen, to be writing this blog about a seemingly sacred Irish institution that is integral to the holiday heart of this country. No, I\u2019m not talking about advent, not the Solstice, not midnight Mass. Ah, no. I\u2019m talking about outrageous Christmas jumpers (that\u2019s sweaters to the uninitiated), a cacophony of red and green. I\u2019m talking about glitzy show numbers, one-liners to put Henny Youngman to shame, cute children running the show and running amok. I\u2019m talking pathos and humor and tears and laughter. This, my friends from near and far, is The Late, Late Toy Show, a uniquely Irish television extravaganza and \u201cthe most magical night of the year when children are in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you are a young lad or colleen of 3 or 5 or 7 or even post-big guy, living on this small island. The anticipation of Santa is enough to do you in as it is. But for generations of Irish children, Christmas is not your only holiday hallmark. Ushering in the season every late November is another, special night just for you. On this night, your parents allow you to stay up to the shocking time of 11:30pm, while you watch children from across the country not only play with that year\u2019s toys-du-jour and a panoply of others, but also see them sing, dance, cartwheel across the floor and smile smile smile \u2013 all for your benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to define\u201d the importance of The Late Late Toy Show to Irish children, said my friend\u2019s daughter Aimhirin. Now 37, when she was a child, there were only two television stations in Ireland, no television in the summer and limited shows even during the rest of the year. That played into part of it, she said. Television was a big deal. The show, which premiered in 1975, is also an offshoot of The Late Late Show, a talk show (that begins at 9:30pm, BTW) that she said is part of the fabric of Irish life. \u201cIn terms of spheres of influence, it’s been said the Taoiseach (prime minster) was the most important person in the country, and the next was the presenter of The Late Late Show,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The toy show, then, becomes \u201ca celebration of Irish culture. It\u2019s the kids singing and dancing, it\u2019s their relationship with their school and their granny. The kids aren\u2019t polished. There\u2019s an innocence about it. It\u2019s very authentically Irish,\u201d said Aimhirin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that night, everyone in the family might be decked out in the same exact pair of pyjamas (that\u2019s pajamas to the uninitiated), bought at Dunne\u2019s Stores or Penny\u2019s or even the grocery stores in sizes from big men to tiny babies. This is part of the sacred Irish institution \u2013 cuddling up in front of the TV looking like something out of a holiday advertisement. You can even buy a matching PJ for the dog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The department store Penny’s releases a line of The Late Late Toy Show pyjamas for the family every year. National newspapers even assign a reporter to write a story about it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

From the moment the show begins, kids are surely ricocheting off the walls. There are very few adults on The Late Late Toy Show. It truly is a night of children. Aimhirin, whose birthday is Dec. 8, remembers she used to have sleepovers on the night of the show and they\u2019d snuggle in in front of the television. \u201cIt was a key calendar milestone. Every child in the country was allowed to stay up. It was a given.\u201d That sense of late-night, adrenalin-filled excitement is captured perfectly in a very clever television ad that aired in the weeks before this year\u2019s show. Take a peek<\/a>. The man seen at the end is the show\u2019s host (and current Late, Late Show presenter) Ryan Tubridy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One could argue, I suppose, that the show smacks of commercialism. After all, over the course of the night, children play with probably 100 or more toy or toy-related items for sale this season. But dig a little deeper. RTE, the Irish television station that airs The Late Late Toy Show, lists every item on its website for parent or Santa perusal, with links to where they can be bought. Not one link to Amazon can be found. Rather, they will lead to the websites of Irish toy stores, bookstores, craft and art shops. So, sure, commercialism at some level, but supporting the local economy of an island nation at a more primal and important level. Plus, really, Santa can sometimes use all the help he can get. But in this time of global shipping shenanigans, even Santa can be challenged, as Tubridy reminded parents this year. \u201cSanta might not be able to get all these toys,\u201d he said. \u201cI talked to him the Wednesday before last. Supply lines, the Suez Canal. I know, I know. So just manage your expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is more at work here than merely this year\u2019s hottest \u2013 or most Irish \u2013 toy. (I chuckled, for instance, when one rural lad played with a model cattle mart set.) The show highlights the talents of kids throughout the country. Applications to appear on The Late Late Toy Show are available in early September, and apparently child dancers, musicians, orators, singers and etc. etc. flock to get on the show. One preteen with a grin as big as the moon said after this year\u2019s show that she\u2019d been trying since she was 5, and was just chosen. There are break dancers, hip hop artists, rappers, Irish step dancers, ballerinas, instrumentalists, singers with the voice of angels and more, all in one 2-hour show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me, it was never about wanting the toys. For me, it was showcasing all those different talents. And while it\u2019s much more of a Hollywood production today than it was, the formula has stayed the same,\u201d Aimhirin said. She even admitted she sent in an application when she was a child, but wasn\u2019t successful. \u201cI should frame that letter, if I can find it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appearing on the show can also apparently be a ticket to the big time. This year, young DJ Calum Kieran of Dublin was a standout, playing his mix to a studio full of dancers. He\u2019s already been inundated with offers from the country\u2019s top DJs. That kind of \u201csprinkling magic,\u201d as Tubridy calls it, is everywhere in evidence on the show. Even the most Scrooge-like adults can\u2019t help but turn up their mouths, unbidden, into a smile. It is perhaps not surprising that a bit of tugging at heartstrings goes on, too. This year, a hearing-impaired girl who played the French horn, a boy who survived cancer, a smiling girl who is wheelchair-bound due to a rare disease were all on the show. They were all engaging youngsters, a reminder that we are not all evenly abled, that it is important to accept and respect everyone for their own unique gifts. Throw in a few celebrity adults \u2013 this year, Olympic boxing gold medal winner Kellie Harrington and singer\/songwriter Ed Sheeran \u2013 and that about rounds out the evening. And here\u2019s the rub. Across Ireland and the world that night and in the days to follow, people donated an astonishing \u20ac6.6 million ($7.4 million) to the Toy Show Appeal, which funds programming of all sorts for the nation\u2019s children. \u201cIreland at its best, everybody,\u201d said Tubridy that night. \u201cIreland at its best.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ed Sheeran sings a duet with one lucky Irish lass during this year’s show.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One more thing before I end this paean to Irish childhood. This year\u2019s show was watched by people in 150 countries. The Irish diaspora that began hundreds of years ago continues to this day. Modern emigrants don\u2019t face the forced exodus of their forebears, but economics, a better life, more opportunity still drive the expat Irish community. I\u2019ve rarely met a mother or father who doesn\u2019t have at least one adult child in some far-flung corner of the world. For these folks, the Late Late Toy Show must be a talisman of sorts, a touchstone that allows them on at least one night of the year to be wholly Irish, wholly childlike, wholly sentimental. \u201cI have friends in New Zealand and Australia, and they watch every year. It\u2019s so uniquely Irish, it\u2019s a time to dip in and connect with that uniqueness,\u201d Aimhirin said. She, too, is an emigrant, a resident of London. She remembers once about 10 years ago, the London Irish Centre aired a live screening of the show. \u201cBasically, every 20-something Irish person in London arrived and turned it into a nightclub for the evening. Some parents brought their kids, but I don\u2019t think they got the memo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do think that The Late, Late Toy Show could be an acquired taste for some folks like me, a blow-in from America, no less. It\u2019s a bit over the top, but that\u2019s the point. You tune in for the craic (the fun) of it. As I watched, I found myself wishing more than once that I had a cultural childhood grounding, or that I was watching with one or two kids. Aimhirin said her British husband \u201cthinks it\u2019s one of the more mental things he\u2019s ever seen.\u201d I get that. It\u2019s pretty mental. But it\u2019s uniquely mental \u2013 and so a mile marker for this immigrant, another indication that while I think I\u2019ve learned so much, I have so much more to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tubridy said in a newspaper article after last year\u2019s show, \u201cExplaining The Late Late Toy Show to anyone who isn\u2019t from Ireland is one of the most difficult jobs for an Irish citizen worth their salt. It\u2019s like trying to explain why cheese and onion crisps are such an important part of the national conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheese and onion crisps? Sigh. Back to the drawing board\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to see The Late, Late Toy Show for yourself, here is a link<\/a>. I signed in on my United States VPN (virtual private network), and I was able to access it. I hope it works for you! At the least, watch the beginning. It\u2019s pretty cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are still in the holiday mood, here are links to a couple of Irish Christmas television ads that caught my eye. The Guinness<\/a> one was apparently made in 2011 and remains a crowd pleaser, for obvious reasons. The SuperValu<\/a> ad is just heart-warming, and will bring a tear to your eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May you and yours have a wonderful holiday season. Nollaig shona, grainstad sona, athbhliain faoi mhaise duit \u2013 Merry Christmas, happy solstice, happy New Year from Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As an American, I feel I may be presumptuous, dare I say even brazen, to be writing this blog about a seemingly sacred Irish institution that is integral to the holiday heart of this country. No, I\u2019m not talking about advent, not the Solstice, not midnight Mass. Ah, no. I\u2019m talking about outrageous Christmas jumpers (that\u2019s sweaters to the uninitiated), a cacophony of red and green. I\u2019m talking about glitzy show numbers, one-liners to put Henny Youngman to shame, cute children running the show and running amok. I\u2019m talking pathos and humor and tears and laughter. This, my friends from near and far, is The … Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA 'very authentically Irish' holiday extravaganza - Not all who wander are lost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Children across Ireland and down through the generations look forward each holiday season to the Late Late Toy Show.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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