One of things I loved most about living in London was the number of totally random events that happened there. If you’ve got a whacky idea that works best with a crowd of 100 people then chances are you’ll find them in the 10 million man quagmire that is greater London. To clarify what I mean by “whacky events”, the sort of things I found myself doing during my time included but were not limited to:
– Getting up on stage in front of 100 revellers at a pub to play air guitar to the Foo Fighter at a monthly aireoke event
– Twice attending the UK Air Guitar Championships (as a spectator)
– Skating through London’s streets as part of a posse of 150 on an organised Friday night skate
– Going to a comedy show on a Tuesday night in Camden in the upstairs of a pub with about 20 punters and 6 of the worst comedians to ever take the stage
– And my personal favourite, going to an open mic night for up and coming close-up magicians!!
One of my fears about returning to Adelaide was that this quiet little town might not have enough out of left field to keep me entertained. I was wrong. It appears that London does not have a monopoly on the random, and to prove this point I decided to take myself along to the Roller Derby yesterday and see what it was all about.
My friend Bob is basically a Roller Derby evangelist, I defy anyone to talk to him for more than 10 minutes and not get swept up in the contagious enthusiasm he posses for this sport. After hearing about it for the first time (from Bob, naturally) a few months ago I’ve been waiting anxiously for the season opener, and yesterday that day finally arrived – The Salty Dolls vs The Wild Hearses.
Without going too far into the rules, the game basically consists of 2 teams of girls skating round an oval track trying to knock each other over. There is 1 player from each team, known as the jammer, whose job it is to overtake members of the other team who are, in turn, trying to block her. The game is payed hard, and the girls play to win – it’s not a WWE style “sport” where the whole thing is staged, in fact one of the girls actually broke her ankle in the warm ups yesterday so participation can come at a cost. But it isn’t just the competition that saw 2000 people through the massive Wayville Showground doors (yes, that’s right, 2000 people – about the same as the Melbourne Tigers get at many of their NBL games), the whole event is a theatrical extravaganza, from the entrance of the teams, to the hotrods on display, to the raffle where the prize is an arm wrestle with a roller girl of your choice.
It’s whacky, it’s quirky, it’s retro, it’s huge fun and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before. I didn’t take my camera along but I used the iPhone to snap a few shots which give you an idea of what it’s like. Adelaide – get involved and head on out to the next event, for $10 it’s an absolute no brainer.
