‘Treat your living room like a club’ with Falkirk-born Alan Bissett’s online ‘hoose perties’

For those missing the electric atmosphere of a club with music vibrating in the air and disco lights flashing off glittery outfits, look no further as Scottish playwright Alan Bissett has created a solution just for you.
Alan Bissett gets his disco lights and groove on for his online 'hoose perties.'Alan Bissett gets his disco lights and groove on for his online 'hoose perties.'
Alan Bissett gets his disco lights and groove on for his online 'hoose perties.'

Every six weeks over lockdown, Falkirk-born Alan Bissett, known for his play ‘The Moira Monologues’, opens up his laptop screen to welcome club enthusiasts around Scotland to his virtual disco.

The nights are an excuse for anyone to get their glad rags on, invest in some disco lights and dance around their living room to music curated by the DJ himself.

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The event page is run over Facebook under the name ‘Alan Bissett’s Hoose Perty’ and takes place over Zoom with a link made available on the page.

With over 50 people coming to his online events, Alan is riding the disco wave of lockdown.With over 50 people coming to his online events, Alan is riding the disco wave of lockdown.
With over 50 people coming to his online events, Alan is riding the disco wave of lockdown.

“Everyone turns up as they would on any other Zoom call but they are muted,” says Alan who is always keen to get the party started with his dancing and disco lounge ambience.

“I’ve got a Spotify playlist and everyone can hear it so essentially everyone is grooving to the same music and if I’ve done that properly people will get into it.

"There’s a chat at the side and there ‘s usually a bit of talk with people saying things like, ‘Oh I love this song.’

“You try and treat your living room like a club in as far as you can so get some mood lighting.”

The largest crowd the disco has seen has been around 50 clubbing homes over the course of a night with 35 online club goers on the call at the same time.

Music on offer spans all eras to ensure that people of all ages can get into the groove, however, the event has so far attracted mainly those in their 30s and 40s keen for disco escapism.

Alan said: “One of the reasons I started the club night was because there’s not really many places people my age with kids can go to have a dance because most people who go out clubbing are much younger.”

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Alan originally began the club nights locally from Lochwinnoch where he lives and when he began hosting those nights online, he realised he could include more people from across Scotland.

Speaking about the power of dance, Alan said: “Dancing is one of the most enjoyable things any human being can do- we’ve been doing it for thousands of years.

“We still need that in our lives and clubbing is a good way of making us feel connected to each other and to ourselves.

"People now need it more than ever especially at this point of lockdown when it’s so grim."

The next online club night to look forward to will be on November 20 where Alan will be celebrating 21st Birthday for the 24th time with everyone.

Alan commented that the club nights has ‘revived a clubbing spirit’ within him that has helped him write his new book, ‘Lazy Susan’ which is about a 22 year-old Scottish party girl.

His new book will be on sale from his website, Speculative Books and independent book shops next month.

You do not pay to get into a Bissett bonanza, however, you can donate to his PayPal account on his event’s Facebook page or at alanbissett.com.

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