Have you heard U2’s New Year’s Eve show from 1989 in Dublin? Have you ever wondered what made Bono suddenly go “Oh, no he isn’t!” out of the blue towards the end of the show?
I have. And then the other day I was talking to a Brit who’s been living in America, and she mentioned that one of the things she misses most is Christmas pantomimes–plays, usually with plots out of fairy tales, performed with lots of audience participation. There are some stock phrases and running gags that are in many different shows–one of them is yelling “He’s behind you!” to the hero if the bad guy is sneaking up on him, and another is getting into an argument with one of the comedians:
Comic: “Oh no he isn’t!”
Audience: “Oh yes he is!”
Comic: “Oh no he isn’t!” etc.
This converstation was the first I’d ever heard of Christmas pantomimes–in my part of the world, “mime” has a completely different connotation. But now I’m guessing Bono got caught up in the Christmas-season experience of being on stage at this concert. If you listen close you’ll hear some of the audience answering him back the way they should: “Oh yes he is!”