A night of laughter!

If laughter is the best medicine,then a lot of people were cured at last week's Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests at Speakeasy Toastmasters. In front of a full house, 7 Contestants crossed verbal swords to the sound of laughter and loudguffaws.

Claire O'Connell commenced proceedings with a hilarious account of her "somewhat unusual" relationship with her pocket calculator! Entitled " Cal Sharp", Claire regaled us with tales of her obsession with that little electronic device and her ability to "turn him on" by pushing the right buttons, her nights of fun getting the accounts to "add up". To "sum it all up", Claire proved that accountants have a healthy sense of humour.

Sean Corcoran entertained us with his clever offering called "The Spit". Coming from an unremarkable family that had no relatives who fought in the G.P.O.or the World Wars or even emigrated to America, all was quiet in the Corcoran family until they decided to investigate the 1901 Cenus which unearthed a few cousins very close to home! And then, they decided to provide a DNA sample to trace down any celebrity cousins that might exist. And here is the rub - that very same saliva sample opens up a Pandora's Box of privacy issues.Big Brother has it covered!

Waiting patiently in a queue was the theme of Michael Cronin's speech -"The Long Wait". Michael detailed the agony of being a blood donor at Mallow Racecourse - watching yourself grow old while answering questions about "having contact with a baboon in South West Africa". Indeed,if the answer is affirmative to any of the last questions on the questionnaire, it means that you have lived a "full life". But, it's all worth it for Michael as he is rewarded with a packet of crisps!

"Development" was the theme of Kieran Butler's presentation.To much amusement,he confessed his dangerous addiction to self-development courses. Be it online language tutorials or under graduate courses, Kieran cannot resist getting "a hit". His attempts at cold turkey have proved futile as he broke down while binge watching Love Island, Big Brother and Gogglebox! Can he resist further temptation?

In the Table Topics Contest, Brendan Foley, Michael Cronin,Pat Sexton, Ray Ryan and Claire O'Connell confronted the topical question - "Is the role of the President of Ireland still relevant"? The various contributions on the topic wouldn't provide much consolation to the contenders in the race for the Aras.

While the judges' ballots we're being counted, Topicsmaster Anne Buckley led a highly entertaining Topics Session on the theme of laughter and the Irish sense of humour.

Marie Fitzpatrick & Anne Buckley

When White Smoke was eventually seen, Kieran Butler was declared the winner of the Humorous Speech Contest with the runner-up spot going to Michael Cronin.In the Table Topics Contest, Ray Ryan was the winner, with Pat Sexton in second place.These four contestants will go forward to represent Speakeasy at the North Cork Area Final in Fermoy on Tuesday,6th November.

Kieran Butler, Michael Cronin, Marie Fitzpatrick Ray Ryan & Pat Sexton. 

Meanwhile,the Speakeasy Meeting Season continues unabated. It is never too late to take the vital first step and come along to our meetings.Overcome your shyness, become an accomplished communicator and grow in confidence - all these and morecan be achieved in Toastmasters.We look forward to seeing you on Thursday,18th October in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow at 8.00PM.As always, guests are welcome and are never coerced into speaking unless they wish to do so.

For more information about Toastmasters, please check out our website,   speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook. Alternatively,you can contact Club President, Sean Corcoran -086-6054784.