DSD - The Harlem Globetrotters

Yeah, yeah, I know. The Harlem Globetrotters isn't your kind of thing. Heard it already. And I already said, "You are going to change your mind when you see my big foam finger!". Or rather, you would if I had one.

What's wrong with the merchandisers these days? Don't they know what the customer (i.e. me) wants? Apparently they think we want hugely expensive t shirts and basketballs. Actually they did have a cute tiny t-shirt that Hamish could have grown into, but I would have had to sell one of Stevie's kidneys to get it, and the print looked like it might come off after a couple of washes.

So this was my big 'Do Something Different' thing. I saw a poster for the Harlem Globetrotters in the U-Bahn and thought I really have to go and see them. So we did. Not exactly my thing, nor Stevie's thing, but that was the whole point. Now that we have discovered the joy of babysitters (thankyou, lovely Sarah!) we are making the most of our time here in Berlin and trying out new stuff.

The 'show' had started just before we arrived and after the first couple of minutes I turned to see Stevie's face kind of mangled into a why-the-hell-did-you-bring-me-here look. I was kind of wondering the same thing but as it was my idea I managed to intercept this thought before it hit my face. You see for us, we hadn't really known what to expect, and what we got was akin to a Disney-teenage-film version of a basketball match. It could almost have made for real cringe-worthy viewing, had we not got dragged into sharing the German audience's enthusiastic response.

The Globetrotters played the part of the naughty, cheeky, good guys. The referee played the grumpy, appalled master, and the other team, well they just made sure they didn't upstage the Globetrotters. So there were antics, floating balls, water being thrown about, tutus, costumes getting ripped off, and lots of fancy ball moves. And it turned out it was great. We really enjoyed it.

The music was brilliant, the audience participation was funny, I can't fail to be impressed by someone hanging off a basketball hoop upside down, and on top of that it made us realise that we actually wouldn't mind watching a 'proper' basketball match, or going and seeing something at the Olympics. (Now that would be different!).

One of the best bits was near the end when they brought another little boy down from the audience to participate. They handed him a ball, and I thought they were going to do that thing where one of them lifts the boy up so that he can just pop the ball into the hoop. But when they handed this little 8 year old the ball, he just launched it at the hoop and it went straight in! The whole audience went crazy, and the Globetrotter that had selected him started screaming "Mein Sohn!" (my son!). It was so cool, and I bet he's had a great time today telling all his friends at school.

So there you go. It was ace. We had loads of 'Disney-fied' fun, and in actual fact would consider going to see them again when the kids get to about 8 or 9 and would utterly love it. I better get a big foam finger next time though.