Life of the party
The move of Jan Kraus's popular talk show from Czech TV to Prima this fall will no doubt give Prima a prime-time ratings boost on Fri. night, but it will also apparently give a wider audience to Karel Šíp's wonderful "Všechnopárty," if it fills the vacant spot as expected. Šíp's show, which currently airs on ČT on Tues., is more like a classic American talk show than Kraus's in one key way: Karel Šíp is excellent at laughing with his guests, but rarely does he laugh at them. Šíp does make one exception. He likes to take the micky out of unsuspecting foreigners, sometimes even using the "ty" form of address with them. When translator Jon Davis appeared on the show in March and spoke decent but halting Czech, Šíp asked him how he learned it. Did he perhaps take lessons during his 18 years here? No, Davis said, he wanted to see if he could pick it up on his own. "And this is the way it turned out," Šíp said dryly.
Glossary of difficult words
life of the party - a lively and sociable person who is often the center of attention;Všechnopárty - we could not find a good English translation, but it is something like a party where everything goes;
to take the micky out of someone - (British) to make fun or ridicule someone;
unsuspecting - not aware of the presence of danger; unaware;
halting - slow and hesitant; faltering; imperfect;
to pick up a language - to learn or acquire a language without taking formal lessons;
dryly - in a matter-of-fact or ironically humorous way.