You might not have noticed it yet, but Christmas fever is creeping back into our lives again. The lights are up in Brown Thomas, the selection boxes are in your local corner shop... and the Late Late Toy Show has been officially confirmed for December 6th.
If you're one of the chosen few that get to walk into Studio 4 that night in your Christmas jumper with a sack for all of your goodies, you probably won’t even be thinking about the rest of us watching on our screens across the globe.
Ahead of the year's Late Late Toy Show, where they put children live on TV and make them play with toys close to midnight, here's my personal favourite clip: a small child, who isn't me, doing some karaoke then becoming very distressed at the sight of Girls Aloud pic.twitter.com/G5v83OrfIH
— Sean (@seanbeegee) November 30, 2018
It’s a time-honoured tradition at this point to watch the show with one eye on the toys and the other on Twitter (I’ll never call it X, thanking you). Whether you’re on the couch or within mistletoe distance of Patrick Kielty, here’s your sure-fire three-point guide on how to go viral during the biggest show of the year...
1. Post early, post often
This is a special skill you're going to have to hone before the night itself. Social media runs on quantity, not quality, and it’s much better to keep ideas coming than to wait for one big one. I’ve posted anywhere between 40-70 tweets in two hours of Toy Show-ing, and if the joke doesn’t land, no one will see it. But the cream rises to the top, oh yeah. If you need practice, pick a Premier League game at the weekend and complain about every decision...
I came on here to look at toys and make scathing remarks about children. This level of feels is not what I signed up for #LateLateToyShow
— Groggy Goblin 🎃🏳️🌈🎃 (@Xenoire) December 1, 2017
2. Specs appeal
As a member of the bifocal community, it always delights me when I see someone on my telly with a great pair of glasses, and the Irish public agrees. Think about how many iconic Toy Show moments came from kids wearing iconic specs. John Joe Brennan and his clocks? Aron Gibbons and his Top Gun aviators? But the best of all, of course, is Alex Meehan and his straight-talking attitude.
Face it, if you're looking to make history on the Toy Show, it might be time to get your eyes tested.
3. One, two, three… awww.
The Toy Show is the most heartwarming time of the year, and anything that will tug on the public’s heartstrings is sure to be felt in the nation’s conscience for years to come. One segment that always gets me is the families in Australia watching the show in the early hours of the morning with their mulleted kids, saying hi to their grannies and grandads that are waiting for them to come home soon. Whether it’s the surprise return of a faraway dad or a surprise celebrity appearance, if the tears are flowing, the numbers are growing.
Now that you're fully equipped with all of this insider knowledge, you’re ready to take the internet by storm and make your way to the top of the trends with your Toy Show know-how.
Sure, you won’t see a penny for your work and it’ll all be forgotten in a week due to the internet’s fleeting memory, but hey, it’s all part of the festive spirit. Season’s tweetings!
Watch more from The Late Late Show here.
