Christmas Eve is not a Public Holiday in the UK. When I worked in a large office, we would turn up for work in the morning, but always expected our boss to send us home early. A lot of people went to a really crowded pub at lunchtime, after being told by the boss not to bother coming back to work in the afternoon.
In Wales we have the Mari Lwyd at Christmas, a tradition that nearly died out but has bounced back. The Mari Lwyd is a horses skull on a pole, with the jaw articulated so it can be snapped open and closed. The skull is carried by someone draped in a white sheet and the skull is decorated with baubles for eyes and embellished with ribbons and (these days tinsel). Its carried door to door by a group of people who will challenge the householder (or more often a pub) in verse. Those inside have to respond and there is a back and forth until those inside "lose" by not being able to reply - they the Mari Lwyd is invited in to partake in food and drink (drink is important).... ruclips.net/user/shortsWJk8gNkFt8s is a brief explanation. ruclips.net/video/AcvvWcDLagY/видео.html a somewhat longer one.
4:15 the white topping on the Christmas pudding is not sugar close but will either be brandy sauce or double cream (though in the south west, we used to have ours with clotted cream)
The Snowman is 16 years older than me and I still cry at it. Great little film, I remember the original TV broadcast was introduced by David Bowie pretending to be the boy in the film but grown up, who was good friends with Raymond Briggs I think. He later did a song for his other picture book translated to film When The Wind Blows which is definitely not for kids.
The USA has mostly any of several Rankin & Bass Holiday stop-motion animation specials. These include Frosty the Snowman & Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Raymond Briggs also did Father Christmas, another Christmas classic film. Other books he wrote include Fungus the Bogeyman (kids) and Ethel and Ernest (not for kids, but more moving than almost anything I've ever read and an amazing social history of England as well as a personal story of his parents' marriage). He did a lot of books!
I was 4 when that film first came out. It was spellbinding, but as a young child I never really understood the emotional sentiments behind it. Then watching it as an adult it becomes very apparent.
I'm not sure whether it's still a thing now, but a couple of decades ago I used to go to the pub with my mates and then we'd all roll up to midnight mass afterwards. It was nice, singing carols and stuff. Felt very magical, but maybe the excess of booze helped. The Priest/Vicar didn't seem to mind the wobbly teens in the back pews, guess they appreciated a full church and enthusiastic singing.
I have heard that David Hasselhoff comes over to the UK to do Pantomime every year, because he loves doing it. The actors have to be ready for what the audience start shouting, but generally when the villain comes on it is 'boo' and 'he's behind you'. Children are sometimes invited onto the stage, basically anything goes. If it is fun and the kids can join in.
Kailyn recently did an episode comparing The Snowman with Frosty The Snowman. Growing up I went to Midnight Christmas Eve Service every year. This changed years later to 7pm as parents found it too late. I know when we returned as a child, I went to bed and my parents were up past 4am wrapping up my Christmas presents and putting them under the tree. It seemed magic to me as a kid to go to bed at 1am with no presents under the tree and at 9am, it was covered underneath. Merry Christmas JJ from Glasgow, Scotland 🏴
Pantomines usually run from early December to just after Christmas. Traditionally its children's first introduction to theatre. Its harmless fun for all ages. The jokes are often double entendre aimed at the adults but the adult bit goes over the kid's heads. They are often political or related to news of the day. You really must see one I think you would enjoy it. From what I understand the actors love it. Even if it goes wrong it doesn't matter the audience usually laugh harder at the mistakes or may not know it is a mistake but think its deliberate. In the UK we have a tradition of theatre and dance but its not exclusive to us most European countries do too. At Christmas there are usually ballet companies touring with the more traditional ballets, my favourite is Giselle. I went to Covent Garden ballet once which was truly amazing but so expensive I haven't been since. Usually I go to local theatres.
There is a lot of ad-lib in Panto’s, mainly if an actor forgets their lines, or another actor on stage does something that is not scripted. Panto’s are for kids but enjoyed by adults as well. Occasionally they will throw a joke out that the adults will understand, but the kids won’t. You will find no crudeness in a Panto, just wholesome family fun.
The maddest thing to me is that most Americans have never heard the Pogues & Kirsty MacColl's dark Christmas classic song, "A Fairytale of New York" People - What have you been doing with your lives.
I'm an adult and love a panto. I get to be a kid again 😂 it's loads of double entendre jokes for the adults while kids laugh at the slapstick. They're lot ruder than kids realise
I loved pantomimes when I was younger. My auntie and uncle had a pub and every Christmas there would be a pantomime and I remember all the parents would sit at the bar or at tables and all the kids would sit on the dancefloor right in front of the stage and shout out at the actors and join in. Then santa would come in at the end and hand out a present, which was always a selection box to all the kids. It was so much fun.
As a boy, my fellow choristers and I used to take children's singing roles at pantomimes staged both at London West End theatres and at smaller rep theatres in the suburbs. We could earn up to £10 a night for bigger roles, which was a lot 60-65 yrs ago. Christmas, with daily services, carol concerts, recordings, radio broadcasts, and panto, was a hectic month for us 32 boys.
Although a variation of a panto, I think you'd absolutely love Peter Pan Goes Wrong, it is so funny, spilling over with British humour and would appeal to your theatrical background. Do please check it out. Happy Chrimbo to you, JJL and all your family and viewers too...here's to a happy, healthy and peaceful 2025.. x
I was gutted when I started this video and you didn't have the obligatory christmas jumper on! Then you fixed it with pure wizardry 👏 👏 👏 Happy Christmas JJ 🎄
I'm in the UK, it's 9pm on Christmas Eve, on boxing day I'll be doing panto with the family. Just a shout out to those who dislike Christmas. It's shoved down our throats throughout December, but it'll soon be over. Keep doing it for the kids, it'll be finished soon.
4:15 the white part of her Christmas pudding jug is meant to represent the cream one might pour on top of the pudding, not any kind iced or glazed topping.
Merry Christmas and enjoy all your videos so much and totally agree with past Christmas memories,lost my dog this year and hurts doing Christmas without him.Hope you get some presents and stay safe mate.
My recipe came from the chef at the Ritz hotel in London (one of the most expensive in the city). The dried fruits (raisins, sultanas and currants) are soaked in alcohol for a few days to revitalise it and make it sumptuous, the recipe I have demands a marinade of Old Ale, brandy, sherry, and Madeira fortified wine and the soaking takes 2 to 3 days. (the actual alcohol is mostly boiled off when cooking, leaving the lovely flavours). The other ingredients include crystallised citrus fruit peels, flour, suet and eggs. The pudding is cooked by steaming for several hours and then stored for a few weeks to let the flavours develop and is re heated on Christmas day ready to eat. If extra moisture is needed it is usually added in the form of alcohol traditionally. As she says, it is very dense when cooked, but we only usually have small portions with a sauce of some sort or thick cream.
JJ, fruit cake is baked in the oven, whereas Christmas Pudding is steamed for hours, which makes it rich, moist and flavourful, then served with egg custard, which is probably what that “pudding jug” is for. Pudding is a very different texture.
aww i loved midnight mass when i was young, in the Cathedral in the town centre, it was always jam packed, we sang in English (well. Scots) Latin and German and it was so magical. (secretly loved seeing the drunk people at the back swaying)
Dude, I LOVE your sweater! LAWL 1. Crackers are fun! Just silly things, and you can sometimes get really good things inside! And an awful joke and a daft paper crown. 2. Christmas pudding and cake are blech! 3. I have always spent Christmas at home. We had one aunt, her son and her son's wife over, plus the 4-member family who we are connected to via the long-term fostering of their son. 4. Never been to a panto. They're "cringe" to me. 5. I love The Snowman, and the other animations based on Raymond Briggs' books. You should check them out! 6. YOU'RE LOVED AND APPRECIATED! 7. Church, yuck. 8. BY ACCIDENT 9. Turkey is delicious if done right! Butter under the skin and streaky bacon across the top, wrap loosely in foil to form a "tent" to encourage the heat to circulate. Baste on occasion. Go at it like a savage beast when it's ready. MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS, JJLA!
Hi JJLA. Regarding the Christmas crackers, she forgot to mention the paper crowns that come in every cracker. You pull the crackers with everyone around the table and then everyone puts on the paper crowns and you wear them for the full meal. Love your channel mate. Barney in England. Happy Christmas!
Ideally you should forget that you are wearing the paper crown and go out for a walk with it still on your head. Correctly worn at a slant, so you look a little skewiff.
@@14percentviking One must adapt my friend! Two crowns made into one with some sellotape. We can’t have you missing out. Merry Christmas from a fellow big head.
Pantos are wonderful fun for anyone who has a sense of the ridiculous and are willing to be involved in all the shenanigans 😊 Kids love the fun and adults get the double entendres. I get it that some people just don't find them funny but SO many millions do. Me included! Have a lovely Christmas JJ
Since I've lost all my family and am now also disabled I don't do anything for christmas anymore. This year I'm broke and have no food (haven't had a meal since Saturday) so just want it to end. I just want to stay under my duvet and sleep as long as I can. JJ, yes some of our British Christmas customs are a bit weird but I used to love it. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and have a happy new year. Merry Christmas everybody... 🎄🎅🎄
I love Christmas pudding but none of the rest of my family do. Christmas pudding is a rich fruit pudding with spices served warm with custard and or cream. The white decoration on the ceramic jug pudding is cream. I like to have Christmas pudding and a mince pie both warm with cold extra thick cream and hot custard. The different tastes and hot and cold accompaniments works for me. It used to be a silver sixpence would be stirred into the mix and it was good luck for the one who received it in their portion. I think this comes from a time when a silver sixpence was worth something!
I do actually, over 3 evenings each year, walk around our village to check out the Christmas lights on houses, it's not a ton, I'd say 20% of the houses have some but its fun look at while getting some exercise in too. I really hope you went back later and watched 'The Snowman' in full. Happy Christmas JJ.
This isn't a traditional Xmas card, but, to J.J. and everyone in the comments; YOU ARE LOVED AND APPRECIATED!! Have a great Xmas and a happy new year. One love from Scotland. 💙 🦁 🏴 🎁🎄🎅
I'm a Brit and both sides of my family (me included) and my husband's family (him included) loathe turkey. On Christmas Eve, the main day for us (both families are English, Danish and Spanish), we would have a plethora of seafood to start, followed by wild boar, possibly a roasted goose, or a roasted ham. For dessert, it could be Spanish sweets (turrón, mantecados or polverones), or Risalamande - Danish Rice Pudding with either warm or cold cherry sauce and someone lucky would find a whole white almond, would get a marzipan pig.
christmas was so stressful in my family that i dont do anything christmas at all now. thinking back, my favorite part was wrapping gifts. something i did alone in secret and could be creative with. i went through the whole house and collected obscure materials i would use.
Just so you know,most British people don't like Christmas pudding but we will always buy one for Christmas. There's always one person who does like it so they can finish it ,failing that if you cover it in custard it's okay.x
Traditionally its Goose for Christmas Dinner. Turkey is a later thing, first appearing in the 16th century only becoming widespread in the late 20's and 30's. Many still do have Goose or Duck. Christmas Dinner in the Countryside before Turkey was a thing was Game Venison, Woodcock, Snipe, Rabbit, Hare or Mutton or Pork or Ham, latter Pheasant etc. More people are going for the more expensive cuts of Beef, Lamb, Pork these days. Christmas Pudding is usually made several months before Christmas and fed Brandy a couple of times a week to preserve it the served hot with hot Brandy poured over it a lit, eaten with Fresh Cream or Brandy Butter or Vanilla Custard. Traditionally a Silver Sixpence would be mixed in to it for someone to find. Christmas Cake is a heavy Fruit Cake made a few weeks before Christmas and again fed Brandy in my house its fed Cherry Brandy, other Sweet Liqueurs may be used. A couple of days before Christmas it's covered in Marzipan and Iced in Royal Icing or Fondant Icing with seasonal Cake Decorations added. Crackers, the gifts/ Novelties inside really depends on how much you pay for them and where you get them from some can be very expensive / exclusive and have expensive gifts gifts according. Happy Christmas and New Year 🎅🏼🎄
I'm not sure what you mean by "traditional". In medieval England goose certainly wasn't a standard. It could be everything from boars heads, to mountains of pies and many birds (goose not necessarily the most popular even of these options) for wealthier and any general meat and fish for poorer people - and that covers a good 1000 years of Christmas history. Goose was a popular side dish for a period, but the main dish was still different and more likely to be beef or a few others.
I think I'm turning into an American as I get older. I'm having ham instead of turkey and it's the first year I've not sent or received any Christmas cards. I will be drunk for most of Christmas day though, so I guess that's one British tradition I'm maintaining 😅
Christmas pudding with cheese is wonderful and some port, happy days. The last panto i went to was at the Kings theater it was very long and wonderful. They had 2 huge pandas in roller skats, it was fantastic great fun.
Christmas pudding is like mince pies without the pastry doused in brandy. Then set alight while seving to the table to burn the alcohol from the brandy. So it has a strong taste without the effect. Is is served with double cream or ice cream to soften flavour
We in Cornwall typically eat Christmas Pudding with Cornish Clotted Cream. Personally I don't love it, I will not indulge in too many mince pies either or Christmas cake as I am not keen on heavy fruit cake. Would recommend that you react to Peter Pan Goes Wrong which is an extreme version of a pantomime, usually they will not go wrong that badly, it is a farce, its a fun intro to theatre and is not lame. Its lighthearted and loved by many.
Christmas pudding is lot like fruit cake (but usually denser and with more fruit, because it's a steamed version,, not baked). But I believe our Christmas fruit cake is quite different to most American ones. And (as with Christmas cake), everybody who cooks has their own version. When I was a kid, Christmas Day was for immediate family, Boxing Day was either for going visiting extended family, or them visiting us.
It is a bit of a tradition to have interesting Christmas lights and decorations around our towns in the UK. But yeah we are less crazy with it in general. Typically if one house in the neighbourhood has the most elaborate house decorations, lights all over the front, lit up reindeer made of lighting cords, “Santa stop here” signs and so forth, it often seems to be the thing to tut tut tut in walking by it like “Do you see that guy’s house, overdone it a bit there mate!” Or “Man I wonder how much their electric bill will cost this month?”
Most christmas pudding settles on the stomach like lead bowling ball - very heavy, very filling. That said, all the booze in it and having brandy sauce or custard on top makes it a lot easier to eat. Please note that, as with presents, if you want to recieve christmas cards - you must give them yourself or else you cannot really blame anyone else for not bothering.
I love all the cheap Christmas pudding come January, buy up all the really fancy boozy ones at half price...with ice cream, clotted cream, fresh cream... or even custard. bangin.
In the UK, New Year's Day is also a holiday (vacation) so depending on how the dates fall during the week companies often close down for the whole period often breaking at lunchtime on Christmas Eve and returning the day after New Year's Day i.e. 2nd Jan. This is because many employers realise that with the excitement and disruption of the holidays (not to mention the after effects of excessive alcohol consumptions) those days between Christmas and New Year's Day can be mostly unproductive, and it is more expensive to keep costs such as heating etc if there are workers present so on balance it is best to let employees recharge their batteries, so to speak, and return to work refreshed and more productive. A good example is this year, with Christmas and Boxing Day being on Weds and Thurs, offices and factories would have to open for one day, i.e. Friday then close for the weekend, open on Monday for two days then close for New Year Celebrations and return the following Friday, it's just not economical or productive.
Pantomime isn't generally something you would do on Christmas day or boxing day, I doubt any theatres are open, but you would go in the run up to Christmas. There are usually some jokes for adults in the shows, but overall they are aimed at kids so if you showed up as an adult without kids you're probably not going to have a great time. The audience participation isn't random. There are specific story beats the audience know to get involved in, like shouting "it/he/she is behind you!" or booing when the villain appears, or getting into an argument with a character of "oh no they didn't" and "Oh yes they did!". Occasionally some small kid or a heckler will shout out something Random and then the cast has to improvise, but they don't alter the story structure around it.
It took me MANY MANY years to like Christmas pudding - my taste buds have changed to many foods I did not like as a child/teen/young adult but I still don’t like mince pies lol. I’m a person who won’t say it’s ’disgusting’ about ANY food, just because I don’t like it, there are that do 😊
Midnight mass is not just a catholic thing. When i was young, my frinds and I would go to midnight mass for the tradition/carols etc then go to s party or pub lock-in if we weren't too late.
the Christmas pudding is a very heavy very dense fruit and nut cake that originally used up old or preserved fruits, breads and spices, it was called a pudding as it was cooked in a pudding cloth, which later on became a pudding bowl as ceramics got better, if you have ever had a mulled wine your getting closer to a dish that has dried fruit, bread, molasses, spices including clove and cinnamon, the pudding would have been fed ale and whisky/brandy and port for months prior to eating and then set on fire for the alcohol to slightly burn off, the top is a brandy butter, custard or cream and its food that we would say " sticks to your ribs" very dense and very high in calories which in the medieval times was beneficial to survival, i like it but generally only a small slice as its so rich and filling.
I don't know if he's managed to wean himself off it now, but Henry Winkler (The Fonz) got addicted to pantomime, coming over to do the season every year. That means he must've enjoyed it enough to put up with British winters, which are generally wet and miserable.
Chistmas dinner? My family didn't have turkey, we usually went for rib of beef as my father liked his "Beef Chop" or perhaps pheasant on the very odd occasion? When with my wife's family in Northern Gemany it was normally roast goose or perhaps venison, which is nice. Neither are as dry as turkey with or without gravy. Didn't enjoy Christmas pudding as a kid but I do these days, providing it ha plenty of custard, cream and booze on it?
What is going on on that jumper? Am I the only one seeing Prancer mounting Vixen on the left side there? 🤔 Love it. Merry Christmas JJ. There are plenty of those of us who think the same about Christmas. It can be tough especially if you have lost friends and family along the way. Thanks for a year of great content.
christmas decorations in front gardens / yards is also different as US has large open spaces and Brits tend to have an enclosed area and a lot more private so a little pointless to put out front and instead are put in rear garden for the kids to enjoy, but there are some houses that go all out and could land planes with the amount of lights that have on
What an unexpected surprise it must have been when you discovered that 'Midnight Mass' starts at midnight. You'd think, after all these years, the powers that be would have come up with some sort of subtle way to forewarn you! Having mentioned that you don't really get Christmas cards, and having 36k+ subscribers, you should probably advise your mailman that you'll be seeing quite a bit of him this time next year! 🙂
I was a theatre kid and was in a pantomime every year. There is loads of ad-libbing. You rehearse for a few months and it will usually run for a few weeks with one or two shows a day. It is definitely aimed at kids and a childless adult probably wouldn't get much out of it unless they have lots of nostalgia about it. My kids didn't like it when we took them, but it turned out they're both autistic, so they probably struggled because of that.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Wassailing in the rhe orchards of southern England is still occasionally practiced.
Christmas Eve is not a Public Holiday in the UK. When I worked in a large office, we would turn up for work in the morning, but always expected our boss to send us home early. A lot of people went to a really crowded pub at lunchtime, after being told by the boss not to bother coming back to work in the afternoon.
In Wales we have the Mari Lwyd at Christmas, a tradition that nearly died out but has bounced back. The Mari Lwyd is a horses skull on a pole, with the jaw articulated so it can be snapped open and closed. The skull is carried by someone draped in a white sheet and the skull is decorated with baubles for eyes and embellished with ribbons and (these days tinsel). Its carried door to door by a group of people who will challenge the householder (or more often a pub) in verse. Those inside have to respond and there is a back and forth until those inside "lose" by not being able to reply - they the Mari Lwyd is invited in to partake in food and drink (drink is important).... ruclips.net/user/shortsWJk8gNkFt8s is a brief explanation. ruclips.net/video/AcvvWcDLagY/видео.html a somewhat longer one.
4:15 the white topping on the Christmas pudding is not sugar close but will either be brandy sauce or double cream (though in the south west, we used to have ours with clotted cream)
I have mine with single, double and clotted cream
I would definitely watch JJLA react to the snowman 😂😂😂
The Snowman is 16 years older than me and I still cry at it.
Great little film, I remember the original TV broadcast was introduced by David Bowie pretending to be the boy in the film but grown up, who was good friends with Raymond Briggs I think.
He later did a song for his other picture book translated to film When The Wind Blows which is definitely not for kids.
The USA has mostly any of several Rankin & Bass Holiday stop-motion animation specials. These include Frosty the Snowman & Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Raymond Briggs also did Father Christmas, another Christmas classic film. Other books he wrote include Fungus the Bogeyman (kids) and Ethel and Ernest (not for kids, but more moving than almost anything I've ever read and an amazing social history of England as well as a personal story of his parents' marriage). He did a lot of books!
I was 4 when that film first came out. It was spellbinding, but as a young child I never really understood the emotional sentiments behind it. Then watching it as an adult it becomes very apparent.
I'm not sure whether it's still a thing now, but a couple of decades ago I used to go to the pub with my mates and then we'd all roll up to midnight mass afterwards. It was nice, singing carols and stuff. Felt very magical, but maybe the excess of booze helped. The Priest/Vicar didn't seem to mind the wobbly teens in the back pews, guess they appreciated a full church and enthusiastic singing.
Figgy pudding pour brandy Over ignited then pour hot custard over it fabulous
I have heard that David Hasselhoff comes over to the UK to do Pantomime every year, because he loves doing it. The actors have to be ready for what the audience start shouting, but generally when the villain comes on it is 'boo' and 'he's behind you'. Children are sometimes invited onto the stage, basically anything goes. If it is fun and the kids can join in.
You get paid a tonne to do Pantomime, if you are the star, or one of the stars.
"Oh no he doesn't."
Yeah, but he has to tone down the over-acting a bit though.
@@reluctantheist5224Ooohhh yes he does😂
@@reluctantheist5224 "Oh yes he does." 🤣
Will you cry if you watch the snowman?
Yes, yes you will!
It’s quite emotional for a cartoon. 😂
Merry Christmas! 😊
No I wont
@@adamaalto-mccarthy6984 Oh yes you will 🤣
@@adamaalto-mccarthy6984your heart will melt like snow when you see it 🤭
Merry Christmas!
@@AlOh-2 I wont. Its a crap cartoon.
@@AlOh-2Hyvää Joulua
Kailyn recently did an episode comparing The Snowman with Frosty The Snowman. Growing up I went to Midnight Christmas Eve Service every year. This changed years later to 7pm as parents found it too late. I know when we returned as a child, I went to bed and my parents were up past 4am wrapping up my Christmas presents and putting them under the tree. It seemed magic to me as a kid to go to bed at 1am with no presents under the tree and at 9am, it was covered underneath. Merry Christmas JJ from Glasgow, Scotland 🏴
Already Christmas here in Australia...Merry Xmas everyone 🎅🦌🌲 it's hot and we'll have seafood and I will get a nice buzz from the liquer cherries. 😊
Happy Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas Australia 🙃
ahh, I can taste the seafood on the beach. Instead it's cold and rainy in the UK!
Merry Christmas
Hi! Wishing you a very merry Christmas & a fabulous New Year. Also, thank you for your videos, really enjoy watching them. Jo x
Pantomines usually run from early December to just after Christmas. Traditionally its children's first introduction to theatre. Its harmless fun for all ages. The jokes are often double entendre aimed at the adults but the adult bit goes over the kid's heads. They are often political or related to news of the day.
You really must see one I think you would enjoy it. From what I understand the actors love it. Even if it goes wrong it doesn't matter the audience usually laugh harder at the mistakes or may not know it is a mistake but think its deliberate. In the UK we have a tradition of theatre and dance but its not exclusive to us most European countries do too. At Christmas there are usually ballet companies touring with the more traditional ballets, my favourite is Giselle. I went to Covent Garden ballet once which was truly amazing but so expensive I haven't been since. Usually I go to local theatres.
There is a lot of ad-lib in Panto’s, mainly if an actor forgets their lines, or another actor on stage does something that is not scripted.
Panto’s are for kids but enjoyed by adults as well. Occasionally they will throw a joke out that the adults will understand, but the kids won’t.
You will find no crudeness in a Panto, just wholesome family fun.
The maddest thing to me is that most Americans have never heard the Pogues & Kirsty MacColl's dark Christmas classic song, "A Fairytale of New York"
People - What have you been doing with your lives.
I'm an adult and love a panto. I get to be a kid again 😂 it's loads of double entendre jokes for the adults while kids laugh at the slapstick. They're lot ruder than kids realise
I loved pantomimes when I was younger. My auntie and uncle had a pub and every Christmas there would be a pantomime and I remember all the parents would sit at the bar or at tables and all the kids would sit on the dancefloor right in front of the stage and shout out at the actors and join in. Then santa would come in at the end and hand out a present, which was always a selection box to all the kids. It was so much fun.
Merry Christmas JJ, thanks for all the entertainment throughout the year !
As a boy, my fellow choristers and I used to take children's singing roles at pantomimes staged both at London West End theatres and at smaller rep theatres in the suburbs. We could earn up to £10 a night for bigger roles, which was a lot 60-65 yrs ago. Christmas, with daily services, carol concerts, recordings, radio broadcasts, and panto, was a hectic month for us 32 boys.
Although a variation of a panto, I think you'd absolutely love Peter Pan Goes Wrong, it is so funny, spilling over with British humour and would appeal to your theatrical background. Do please check it out.
Happy Chrimbo to you, JJL and all your family and viewers too...here's to a happy, healthy and peaceful 2025.. x
I was gutted when I started this video and you didn't have the obligatory christmas jumper on! Then you fixed it with pure wizardry 👏 👏 👏
Happy Christmas JJ 🎄
Apart from the booze, the food and the TV - some of which is actually watchable, I've only one thing to say regarding christmas:
BA HUMBUG!
He received a blow up Father Christmas by accident not on accident, Happy Christmas mate
I think the point of the story was that he ordered it but misread (or probably did not read) the size, it was somewhat larger than he was expecting.
I'm in the UK, it's 9pm on Christmas Eve, on boxing day I'll be doing panto with the family.
Just a shout out to those who dislike Christmas. It's shoved down our throats throughout December, but it'll soon be over.
Keep doing it for the kids, it'll be finished soon.
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
4:15 the white part of her Christmas pudding jug is meant to represent the cream one might pour on top of the pudding, not any kind iced or glazed topping.
or brandy sauce!
CREAM??? Noooo, never, sauce flavoured with dark rum is obligatory!
Merry Christmas and enjoy all your videos so much and totally agree with past Christmas memories,lost my dog this year and hurts doing Christmas without him.Hope you get some presents and stay safe mate.
My recipe came from the chef at the Ritz hotel in London (one of the most expensive in the city). The dried fruits (raisins, sultanas and currants) are soaked in alcohol for a few days to revitalise it and make it sumptuous, the recipe I have demands a marinade of Old Ale, brandy, sherry, and Madeira fortified wine and the soaking takes 2 to 3 days. (the actual alcohol is mostly boiled off when cooking, leaving the lovely flavours). The other ingredients include crystallised citrus fruit peels, flour, suet and eggs. The pudding is cooked by steaming for several hours and then stored for a few weeks to let the flavours develop and is re heated on Christmas day ready to eat. If extra moisture is needed it is usually added in the form of alcohol traditionally. As she says, it is very dense when cooked, but we only usually have small portions with a sauce of some sort or thick cream.
JJ, fruit cake is baked in the oven, whereas Christmas Pudding is steamed for hours, which makes it rich, moist and flavourful, then served with egg custard, which is probably what that “pudding jug” is for. Pudding is a very different texture.
Actually often served with Birds custard which is eggless!
It can also be served with cream or brandy butter.
aww i loved midnight mass when i was young, in the Cathedral in the town centre, it was always jam packed, we sang in English (well. Scots) Latin and German and it was so magical. (secretly loved seeing the drunk people at the back swaying)
Our family had a tradition of playing silly games on Xmas Day .
Great fun.
Panto runs from early December to mid January. Not on Christmas day though. Acting in one is probably a riot. Yes ad lib but within the format.
Dude, I LOVE your sweater! LAWL
1. Crackers are fun! Just silly things, and you can sometimes get really good things inside! And an awful joke and a daft paper crown.
2. Christmas pudding and cake are blech!
3. I have always spent Christmas at home. We had one aunt, her son and her son's wife over, plus the 4-member family who we are connected to via the long-term fostering of their son.
4. Never been to a panto. They're "cringe" to me.
5. I love The Snowman, and the other animations based on Raymond Briggs' books. You should check them out!
6. YOU'RE LOVED AND APPRECIATED!
7. Church, yuck.
8. BY ACCIDENT
9. Turkey is delicious if done right! Butter under the skin and streaky bacon across the top, wrap loosely in foil to form a "tent" to encourage the heat to circulate. Baste on occasion. Go at it like a savage beast when it's ready.
MERRY CHRISTMAS/HAPPY HOLIDAYS, JJLA!
Peter Pan gone wrong (with subs) 2016 on YT is a panto worth a watch if you have time, love your reactions by the way, Happy Christmas
The white topping isn’t a glaze but a brandy sauce called brandy butter though thick cream or whipped cream can be used
Hi JJLA. Regarding the Christmas crackers, she forgot to mention the paper crowns that come in every cracker. You pull the crackers with everyone around the table and then everyone puts on the paper crowns and you wear them for the full meal. Love your channel mate. Barney in England. Happy Christmas!
Ideally you should forget that you are wearing the paper crown and go out for a walk with it still on your head. Correctly worn at a slant, so you look a little skewiff.
Yes. The hats/crowns are everything!
I’ve never found one that actually fitted on my head. I have a head like a Deptford market watermelon
@@14percentviking
One must adapt my friend!
Two crowns made into one with some sellotape. We can’t have you missing out.
Merry Christmas from a fellow big head.
@@user-blob I actually did that one year!! lol. This years crown actually fitted me, much to everyone's surprise!!
Pantos are wonderful fun for anyone who has a sense of the ridiculous and are willing to be involved in all the shenanigans 😊 Kids love the fun and adults get the double entendres. I get it that some people just don't find them funny but SO many millions do. Me included! Have a lovely Christmas JJ
Hmm, yeah, it looks fun. Merry Christmas!
I guess you have never seen when Peter pan goes wrong it won a Tony and its the funniest thing iv ever watched 😂
@@JJLAReacts It is also very lucrative for actors and smaller venues.
Its great fun.
American actors have been in a panto and they have enjoyed themselves and have really fun acting and interacting with the watching public 😊
Merry Christmas to you all
Since I've lost all my family and am now also disabled I don't do anything for christmas anymore. This year I'm broke and have no food (haven't had a meal since Saturday) so just want it to end. I just want to stay under my duvet and sleep as long as I can.
JJ, yes some of our British Christmas customs are a bit weird but I used to love it.
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and have a happy new year.
Merry Christmas everybody... 🎄🎅🎄
I love Christmas pudding but none of the rest of my family do. Christmas pudding is a rich fruit pudding with spices served warm with custard and or cream. The white decoration on the ceramic jug pudding is cream. I like to have Christmas pudding and a mince pie both warm with cold extra thick cream and hot custard. The different tastes and hot and cold accompaniments works for me. It used to be a silver sixpence would be stirred into the mix and it was good luck for the one who received it in their portion. I think this comes from a time when a silver sixpence was worth something!
I do actually, over 3 evenings each year, walk around our village to check out the Christmas lights on houses, it's not a ton, I'd say 20% of the houses have some but its fun look at while getting some exercise in too.
I really hope you went back later and watched 'The Snowman' in full. Happy Christmas JJ.
Merry Xmas JJLA from Manchester UK
This isn't a traditional Xmas card, but, to J.J. and everyone in the comments;
YOU ARE LOVED AND APPRECIATED!!
Have a great Xmas and a happy new year.
One love from Scotland. 💙 🦁 🏴 🎁🎄🎅
Same to you from Australia 😊
similar from England.
These are not culture "shocks", they are mild surprises. A culture shock is moving to Texas and finding that your neighbour owns fifteen guns.
If I moved to Texas I'd be shocked if they didn't.
Damn right
imagine the shock finding out you just moved to texas!
must be a poor Texan if he only owns 15,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Only 15?
I'm a Brit and both sides of my family (me included) and my husband's family (him included) loathe turkey. On Christmas Eve, the main day for us (both families are English, Danish and Spanish), we would have a plethora of seafood to start, followed by wild boar, possibly a roasted goose, or a roasted ham. For dessert, it could be Spanish sweets (turrón, mantecados or polverones), or Risalamande - Danish Rice Pudding with either warm or cold cherry sauce and someone lucky would find a whole white almond, would get a marzipan pig.
christmas was so stressful in my family that i dont do anything christmas at all now. thinking back, my favorite part was wrapping gifts. something i did alone in secret and could be creative with. i went through the whole house and collected obscure materials i would use.
Your going to need brandy butter with that pudding
Its more common in Scotland to have a clootie dumpling rather than Christmas pudding
Whatever. But that white on top is the Double Cream going on. Yeah.
Turkey is a relatively recent bird for Christmas. Historically, it was a goose. Hence goose fat for cooking the roast potatoes
Just so you know,most British people don't like Christmas pudding but we will always buy one for Christmas. There's always one person who does like it so they can finish it ,failing that if you cover it in custard it's okay.x
One of my best friends is an actress and she does Panto every year, she absolutely loves it. They start rehearsing in August time
Traditionally its Goose for Christmas Dinner. Turkey is a later thing, first appearing in the 16th century only becoming widespread in the late 20's and 30's. Many still do have Goose or Duck.
Christmas Dinner in the Countryside before Turkey was a thing was Game Venison, Woodcock, Snipe, Rabbit, Hare or Mutton or Pork or Ham, latter Pheasant etc.
More people are going for the more expensive cuts of Beef, Lamb, Pork these days.
Christmas Pudding is usually made several months before Christmas and fed Brandy a couple of times a week to preserve it the served hot with hot Brandy poured over it a lit, eaten with Fresh Cream or Brandy Butter or Vanilla Custard. Traditionally a Silver Sixpence would be mixed in to it for someone to find.
Christmas Cake is a heavy Fruit Cake made a few weeks before Christmas and again fed Brandy in my house its fed Cherry Brandy, other Sweet Liqueurs may be used. A couple of days before Christmas it's covered in Marzipan and Iced in Royal Icing or Fondant Icing with seasonal Cake Decorations added.
Crackers, the gifts/ Novelties inside really depends on how much you pay for them and where you get them from some can be very expensive / exclusive and have expensive gifts gifts according.
Happy Christmas and New Year 🎅🏼🎄
I'm not sure what you mean by "traditional". In medieval England goose certainly wasn't a standard. It could be everything from boars heads, to mountains of pies and many birds (goose not necessarily the most popular even of these options) for wealthier and any general meat and fish for poorer people - and that covers a good 1000 years of Christmas history.
Goose was a popular side dish for a period, but the main dish was still different and more likely to be beef or a few others.
The white topping on the pottery xmas pud is brandy sauce
Nice jumper☺
Midnight Mass in the UK (there are Anglican services as well as Catholic) usually start at 11:30pm. So it turns midnight during the service.
Merry Christmas 🎄 from Lancashire UK 🇬🇧
I think I'm turning into an American as I get older. I'm having ham instead of turkey and it's the first year I've not sent or received any Christmas cards. I will be drunk for most of Christmas day though, so I guess that's one British tradition I'm maintaining 😅
Christmas pudding with cheese is wonderful and some port, happy days.
The last panto i went to was at the Kings theater it was very long and wonderful. They had 2 huge pandas in roller skats, it was fantastic great fun.
Christmas pudding is like mince pies without the pastry doused in brandy. Then set alight while seving to the table to burn the alcohol from the brandy. So it has a strong taste without the effect. Is is served with double cream or ice cream to soften flavour
We in Cornwall typically eat Christmas Pudding with Cornish Clotted Cream. Personally I don't love it, I will not indulge in too many mince pies either or Christmas cake as I am not keen on heavy fruit cake. Would recommend that you react to Peter Pan Goes Wrong which is an extreme version of a pantomime, usually they will not go wrong that badly, it is a farce, its a fun intro to theatre and is not lame. Its lighthearted and loved by many.
Christmas pudding is lot like fruit cake (but usually denser and with more fruit, because it's a steamed version,, not baked). But I believe our Christmas fruit cake is quite different to most American ones. And (as with Christmas cake), everybody who cooks has their own version.
When I was a kid, Christmas Day was for immediate family, Boxing Day was either for going visiting extended family, or them visiting us.
This might not be a Christmas card but i love and appreciate you, as i'm sure pretty much everyone else here does too 🥰🥰🥰
Merry Christmas to you 🎄🥂
It is a bit of a tradition to have interesting Christmas lights and decorations around our towns in the UK.
But yeah we are less crazy with it in general.
Typically if one house in the neighbourhood has the most elaborate house decorations, lights all over the front, lit up reindeer made of lighting cords, “Santa stop here” signs and so forth, it often seems to be the thing to tut tut tut in walking by it like “Do you see that guy’s house, overdone it a bit there mate!” Or “Man I wonder how much their electric bill will cost this month?”
Loving the jumper jj
I was in a charity fundraiser panto, it was great fun.
Most christmas pudding settles on the stomach like lead bowling ball - very heavy, very filling. That said, all the booze in it and having brandy sauce or custard on top makes it a lot easier to eat. Please note that, as with presents, if you want to recieve christmas cards - you must give them yourself or else you cannot really blame anyone else for not bothering.
Absolutely love christmas pudding. Hated it as a child tho
I’ve had beef wellington on Christmas Day before 16:19
Happy christmas JJ.
Traditonaly Goose was eaten on Xmas day. We only used turkeys when the GI’s turned up in the UK.
Turkey slowly became normal across Tudor and Georgian periods. Not sure how GIs influenced this.
I love all the cheap Christmas pudding come January, buy up all the really fancy boozy ones at half price...with ice cream, clotted cream, fresh cream... or even custard. bangin.
In the UK, New Year's Day is also a holiday (vacation) so depending on how the dates fall during the week companies often close down for the whole period often breaking at lunchtime on Christmas Eve and returning the day after New Year's Day i.e. 2nd Jan. This is because many employers realise that with the excitement and disruption of the holidays (not to mention the after effects of excessive alcohol consumptions) those days between Christmas and New Year's Day can be mostly unproductive, and it is more expensive to keep costs such as heating etc if there are workers present so on balance it is best to let employees recharge their batteries, so to speak, and return to work refreshed and more productive. A good example is this year, with Christmas and Boxing Day being on Weds and Thurs, offices and factories would have to open for one day, i.e. Friday then close for the weekend, open on Monday for two days then close for New Year Celebrations and return the following Friday, it's just not economical or productive.
They also have ham, fish, beef, etc
Pantomime isn't generally something you would do on Christmas day or boxing day, I doubt any theatres are open, but you would go in the run up to Christmas. There are usually some jokes for adults in the shows, but overall they are aimed at kids so if you showed up as an adult without kids you're probably not going to have a great time. The audience participation isn't random. There are specific story beats the audience know to get involved in, like shouting "it/he/she is behind you!" or booing when the villain appears, or getting into an argument with a character of "oh no they didn't" and "Oh yes they did!". Occasionally some small kid or a heckler will shout out something Random and then the cast has to improvise, but they don't alter the story structure around it.
Merry Christmas from the UK, thanks for an awesome year of content 🥰🎄🎉
I love Panto! I mainly look for them on tv or RUclips these days because I can’t be doing with sitting close to strangers.
I like your Christmas jumper x
I was birn in the UK lived there until I was ?56 (now live in Spain).
Never have I ever seen the Snowman
😂
11:01 She's just done comparison of Frosty and The Snowman.
A ton of cream (sometimes brandy) on top of Xmas pud !!
It took me MANY MANY years to like Christmas pudding - my taste buds have changed to many foods I did not like as a child/teen/young adult but I still don’t like mince pies lol. I’m a person who won’t say it’s ’disgusting’ about ANY food, just because I don’t like it, there are that do 😊
Panto’s are awesome!!! It leads up to Christmas!!!
Midnight mass is not just a catholic thing. When i was young, my frinds and I would go to midnight mass for the tradition/carols etc then go to s party or pub lock-in if we weren't too late.
the Christmas pudding is a very heavy very dense fruit and nut cake that originally used up old or preserved fruits, breads and spices, it was called a pudding as it was cooked in a pudding cloth, which later on became a pudding bowl as ceramics got better, if you have ever had a mulled wine your getting closer to a dish that has dried fruit, bread, molasses, spices including clove and cinnamon, the pudding would have been fed ale and whisky/brandy and port for months prior to eating and then set on fire for the alcohol to slightly burn off, the top is a brandy butter, custard or cream and its food that we would say " sticks to your ribs" very dense and very high in calories which in the medieval times was beneficial to survival, i like it but generally only a small slice as its so rich and filling.
I don't know if he's managed to wean himself off it now, but Henry Winkler (The Fonz) got addicted to pantomime, coming over to do the season every year.
That means he must've enjoyed it enough to put up with British winters, which are generally wet and miserable.
We also wouldn't say ' On ' Christmas..we would say 'At ' Christmas
Chistmas dinner? My family didn't have turkey, we usually went for rib of beef as my father liked his "Beef Chop" or perhaps pheasant on the very odd occasion? When with my wife's family in Northern Gemany it was normally roast goose or perhaps venison, which is nice. Neither are as dry as turkey with or without gravy.
Didn't enjoy Christmas pudding as a kid but I do these days, providing it ha plenty of custard, cream and booze on it?
Plum pudding is magnificent
What is going on on that jumper? Am I the only one seeing Prancer mounting Vixen on the left side there? 🤔 Love it. Merry Christmas JJ. There are plenty of those of us who think the same about Christmas. It can be tough especially if you have lost friends and family along the way. Thanks for a year of great content.
Happy Christmas 😀
christmas decorations in front gardens / yards is also different as US has large open spaces and Brits tend to have an enclosed area and a lot more private so a little pointless to put out front and instead are put in rear garden for the kids to enjoy, but there are some houses that go all out and could land planes with the amount of lights that have on
I usually eat the full christmas pudding as others in the fsmiky dont like it lol .. happy days.
What an unexpected surprise it must have been when you discovered that 'Midnight Mass' starts at midnight. You'd think, after all these years, the powers that be would have come up with some sort of subtle way to forewarn you!
Having mentioned that you don't really get Christmas cards, and having 36k+ subscribers, you should probably advise your mailman that you'll be seeing quite a bit of him this time next year! 🙂
JJ you really should react to a panto "Peter pan goes wrong" is great and something I think you might like.
Watch David Bowie doing the intro to the Snowman , he's so young
I was a theatre kid and was in a pantomime every year. There is loads of ad-libbing. You rehearse for a few months and it will usually run for a few weeks with one or two shows a day. It is definitely aimed at kids and a childless adult probably wouldn't get much out of it unless they have lots of nostalgia about it. My kids didn't like it when we took them, but it turned out they're both autistic, so they probably struggled because of that.
The custard makes the Christmas pudding 👌
Or the Cream, Brandy sauce, brandy butter, or ice cream.
Or all of the above.
Can also get Rum sauce, butter or custard.