Moulin Rouge

Monday, October 20th, 2008

I have only been to the Moulin Rouge once and a jolly fine show it was too. My French colleague got us a dinner table by the edge of the stage so our position was excellent. Erotic? No, I don't think so but all those girls doing the can-can in ostrich feathers were spectacular. Suddenly the stage rolled away from our table and we were peering down into a huge water tank. A young lady in a bikini was swimming with a dolphin. Well, she did not have the bikini for long for the dolphin pulled it off her. Now that was erotic, mildly so.

The stage rolled back and the can-can girls disappeared and we came to the interval. A man came to the edge of the stage and asked me, in English, to join him on stage. OK, I'm game for anything.

They sat me in a chair in the centre of the stage, put a white plastic hat on my head, large white frameless spectacles and a white plastic cigarette in my mouth. I felt like Elton John and I could not see a damn thing because of the spotlights. Now, monsieur, he said, you must sit very still.

Too right I did for on either side of me two guys were throwing Indian clubs at each other and they were whistling in front and behind my face; I feel the rush of air as they passed. Then there came a roll of drums and whish, whish, whish, the hat went, the glasses went and the cigarette went in a flash. Tumultuous applause and then I went back to my table. Loved it.