Bourgeois & Maurice (c) Guilherme Zuhlke O'Connor

Bourgeois & Maurice was one of our highlights of 2014 but where did they make it in our top 10?

It’s cold outside so snuggle up to someone or something special (we don’t judge) and watch our favourite videos of 2014.

10. Let’s get political
 
This Christmas, we invited London drag superstar Holestar to set the scene for 2015. Her partly political broadcast on behalf of the Party Party makes a case for something which is long overdue and something close to our hearts.

Here’s what Myra DuBois had to tell the world last Christmas.
 

9. Never work with animals or magicians

Here’s one of the funniest things we saw all year. Watch as Finnish magician and mentalist Jose Ahonen tries out his pocket magic on a series of increasingly befuddled dogs like the impossibly cute Nino, the fiesty Salli or even poor Dumle, who suffers from a touch of the old nominative determinism. Given that some of those dogs have more than a hint of Cujo about them, we’re frankly amazed Ahonen got away with his life.

 

8. Swoosh!

Who said old dogs can’t show off new tricks? Filmed at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, here’s gentleman juggler Mat Ricardo giving his classic tablecloth pull a new twist.

 

7. Top clowning around

If America really is suffering from a shortage of clowns, we suggest they look across the Atlantic. No, not at the Houses of Parliament but at the plethora of quality clowning talent around London cabaret venues. One such example is Dott Cotton who has been shaking it all over the capital for some years both as part of the award-winning Late Night Shop Cabaret troupe and as a solo performer at shows like the Hippodrome Casino’s Boom & Bang.

Here she is in a video which comes with its own fascinating backstory.

 

6. These circus artistes invaded an East End warehouse. What happened next will amaze even Upcoming readers.

Want to see London-based troupe Circulus tackling tricking, hand-to-hand, free running, dancing, juggling, tumbling, aerial hoop, cyr wheel, banquine, breakdancing, hand balancing, trampoline and more, all without so much as a safety net? Knock yourselves out.

 

5. This year’s song of the summer came from Bourgeois & Maurice

If the end of the world does come anytime soon, there’s no point being sad about it. Master wits Bourgeois & Maurice have the perfect way to turn that oh-my-God-we’re-all-going-to-die-and-I-haven’t-even-seen-the-last-season-of-RPDR frown upside down. Just for a second, stop that hippy whining and listen to this song.

 

4. Puddles Pity Party gets all regal on us

If this video didn’t give us the biggest earworm of the year, we don’t know what did. Along with the rest of the La Soiree crew, Puddles Pity Party crashed into London town with a vengeance. After three years of globetrotting, the award-winning variety show returned to its spiritual home and introduced us to this gentle giant with the golden voice. Such was his power that he could shush an entire Spiegeltent with his heart-wrenching rendition of Hallelujah and minutes later have them shouting along to his version of this popular ditty. Sing along if you know the words.

 

3. Artists v Critics

Where would artists be without critics? Or critics without artists? In The Artist-Critic Conflict, Matthew Floyd Jones (aka the male half of Frisky & Mannish) pits the two sides over five bruising battle-rounds.

 

2. RIP Madame Jojo’s
The closure of Madame Jojo’s after a violent incident was undoubtably the low point of the year for the cabaret community. A silver lining was the way the event led to a gathering the like of which hadn’t been seen in recent memory as performers, promoters and press gathered for a peaceful march through Soho. Whatever the future holds for the late Brewer Street venue, there will always be that Saturday afternoon in late November captured in this moving clip.

 

1. Panti Bliss emotional evisceration of Irish homophobia

Hands down the most moving video we’ve seen this year is Panti Bliss’ speech from February.

On 11 January 2014, Bliss’ alter ego Rory O’Neill was interviewed on Irish channel RTÉ’s Saturday Night Show. During the interview, he listed a number of newspaper journalists and said that he believed that “people who actively campaigned for gay people to be treated less or treated differently” were in his opinion “homophobic”.

While many in Ireland and beyond supported O’Neill’s views, RTÉ and others saw things differently. Following threats of legal action from those named, the channel not only apologised on air to Breda O’Brien, Catholic lobby group The Iona Institute, and writer and broadcaster John Waters but paid damages of 80,000 Euros to the Institute too.

RTÉ went further, adding salt to the ugly wound by removing O’Neill’s speech from its online channel, claiming this action was in part to do with the recent death of Iona Institute employee Tom Gorman. Quite how that tragic incident related to O’Neill’s accusations was unexplained.

Three weeks after that incident, RTÉ decided to hold another Saturday Night debate, this time on the definition of homophobia. O’Neill decided not to air his views in a television studio this time but took to the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. His ten minute speech as Panti Bliss went viral and, as you can see below, for very good reason. The full transcript can be found here.

And there’s more. Acting under parliamentary privilege, Paul Murphy MEP stood up in Strasbourg and, in what could be the most painful 77 seconds of this saga for RTÉ, Breda O’Brien, The Iona Institute and John Waters, he not only names but shames these parties for their views. Roll VT.