With pub trivia off the table, Dolly turned to Zoom
by Mikey CahillARTISTS IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 – Dolly Adamson
Dolly Adamson has spent the last 20 years as Disco Dolly, hosting bingo, trivia and DJing parties. Then coronavirus struck, she lost $50,000 of gigs and started answering her phone “Cancellation Hotline, can I help you?”
The cheery dame feels like she’s “moved into a Big Brother director role with the Zoom platform, spotlighting houses that are hamming it up for their webcam.” Adamson hosts online Disco Bingo parties and, well, things get wild. “All the houses are dancing or lip-syncing, so people are pulling out their hairbrush/spatula/broom/dog to sing or dance with.”
After initially falling in a heap, the veteran entertainer is looking at the bright side.
“To be honest, not having to get in my car and race around from pub to club carting my heavy equipment and crawling home late at night is brilliant,” she says.
She lives with her partner in Gisborne South, their 14-year-old daughter and her partner’s father on four hectares with four dogs, four chickens, two cats and two horses.
Thankfully there’s an appetite for Adamson’s tomfoolery under lockdown. And after?
“Hopefully people will still use the Zoom when the world starts turning again. I don’t want to get back into my car to go into a venue full of drunks and strangers looking at me with a ‘Who does she think she is?’ welcome that sucks me dry. Give me my living room any day!”
How you can help: Join in Tuesday and Wednesday nights, 7.30pm, $10 at www.facebook.com/DollysDiscoBingo