“Every week we come here, we laugh ridiculously and we go home again” remarked JP, our General Evaluator for the evening in a nod to the exceptional entertainment level of this meeting. We had laugh-until-you-cry-tabletopics, two beautifully retold classic children’s stories, a fascinating focus two historical war birds and a visit from our district Toastmaster leadership.
In an interesting twist, Toastmaster Gary began, inviting our two main speakers to the floor for a little Q&A ‘to warm the vocals’. Great! Sam B reflected on the best speech he’d heard this year, being the ‘Tallest woman’ impromptu speech from JP. Thinking about how Toastmasters is affecting her life, Ade shared how she speaks about it at work and with friends and how the program is really impacting her life for the better.
“Spitfire & Hurricane” was a somewhat nostalgic presentation about the form, history and personal impression the Hurricane and Spitfire aircraft have had on the speaker, Sam B. Coloured with personal anecdotes and rich visual images, this speech centered on these truly iconic war birds. Evaluator Matt commended Sam for the manner which he transferred his passion for the topic through to the audience and the skill with which he ran the slide show. Well done Sam!
Speaking from the ‘Specialty Speeches’ manual tonight with the ‘Speaking out loud’ project was Ade with a reading of two children’s stories; Margaret Mahy’s “A lion in the meadow” and Michael Rosen’s “We’re going on a bear hunt”. This speech really delivered, with incredible vocal variety, inflection and actions to match. Our Ade is a natural storyteller and tonight she beamed. Congratulations Ade, we loved every second!
David Knight’s table topics were epic. Beautifully prepared, with a display of colourful presents hiding tormentuous tabletopics challenges. Dressed in full-effect with a santa-head-piece, David Knight announced that tonight was “Awkward Secret Santa”, with participants charged with explaining, in two minutes, how their gift was just what they were wishing for. Sounds fine on the surface, but check out the gifts …
First was Ellie with a pair of “Handerpants”. That’s right, “Handerpants” – underpants for hands. Ellie walked the toilet humour line with skill! Next was Jennifer with a massive blanket dubbed the “Family Blankeez”. Jennifer almost appeared genuinely thrilled to have this gift and spoke about how she was going to get all her friends over for a snuggle! Jane got the “Bathe-Brew”, some kind of shower-head coffee machine combo which she maintained she was qualified to operate, being a woman cable of multitasking. She did express some concerns about mixing soap with the brew though. Dave Br who had previously been suffering from uncontrolled fits of laughter now found himself in the hot-seat, facing a pizza-shaped duvet-bed-combo; apparently the very thing he’d been wishing for since he was a child. Snap! Rob was next with a snazzy new-mother pullover featuring a convenient breathing hole which fits snug with the baby’s face. Despite being somewhat reminiscent of the 1979 film Alien, Rob waxed lyrical over the benefits of the jumper, remarking how the premium model included spaces and breathing holes for even more babies. Oh yes, more.
Thank you one and all for making this a night to remember and thank you Rob and Mark for joining us. See you all next week for Gary’s famous club quiz!