It's been an unbelievably busy year for me, which has included trips to Vietnam, NYC, Peru and Bolivia. Additionally, it's been hard to avoid getting soaked up in Melbourne's fun and games.
Just a quick one while it's fresh on my mind. Last weekend I experienced one of the most awkward nights of my life. More awkward than that time I went to Mario Testino's exclusive launch party and asked him who he was.
As part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, I attended a Silent Dinner Party, hosted in a cosy house in Carlton. The concept is easy, but complying with the rules is another story. A typical dinner party at a house, bring your own wine, amongst strangers. Rules below:
- Please do not use words or your voice
- Please don't read or write
- Try to make as little noise as possible
- Don't interact with your personal technology
- Stay with it for at least 2 hours
When I first arrived, the host, Honi, welcomed me with a large grin, hand in air waving ecstatically. As we waited for all the guests to arrive, one of the waitresses accidentally smashed a glass on our table. We chuckled, as quietly as possible.
As I had attended the dinner by my lonesome, initially it was difficult for me to communicate with the other guests, who mostly appeared to be joined by company. However, soon enough, everyone's wine had done its job by the time we finished the entree of grilled mushroom. With an abundance of masking tape lying around (primarily used to cover any labels and text on our bottles), things got a bit out of hand.
One guest, who's name I will never know, became our masking tape victim for the evening. First, someone had taped a bottle cap to his eye. Next up was a hat made of a napkin taped together. I joined in on the fun by creating a hook for his hand. Following this, another guest moulded a bird for his shoulder. We were giggling quietly yet uncontrollably at this stage, which distracted us from our tasty main course, comprising of seasoned beans, a vegetable curry and a dahl-like soup.
By the end of the evening, we were all playing (not so) musical chairs and even had a silent dance party. Having easily surpassed the two hour mark (we lasted over three hours), we were eventually asked to leave. I rode onwards, acknowledging I would probably never see or speak to the other guests again, despite having experienced a very memorable night together.
