There was in one Siberian city a remarkable theatrical actor and director, folk artist Boris Nikolaevich Kiselyov. He told a funny incident that happened to him in the 1970s, on the eve of the New Year.
The trade union committee instructed two artists in the image of Santa Claus and Snowmen to travel through the apartments of theater workers and congratulate the children with the coming New Year. It should have been done on December 31. Father Christmas was appointed Boris Kiselyov. It is understandable: the best candidate for the role of a good grandfather in the whole city cannot be found. A favorite of the public, ballagur-veselchak - a solid appearance, a chic voice. All would be nothing, but on the evening of the same day Boris Nikolaevich was to play the main role in the theatrical New Year's performance - and he was simply obliged to remain sober by that time. The artist perfectly understood that a hospitable Soviet man for nothing would release a expensive guest from his apartment without a traditional drink "on a pad". To refuse in such a situation was to offend the masters.
How to? The artist found a way out. On his chest under the de-Morozov costume he installed a large medical heater. He inserted a pipe into it, which ended out with a plastic wreath. This wreck Boris Nikolaevich fixed and hid under his beard - somewhere in the neck.
Congratulations to the children at home went according to plan. When Santa was offered a drink to the owner to say goodbye, he did not refuse, but pulled off his beard and carefully threw the contents into the wreath. Who saw where the alcohol actually went?
After the evening performance, before going home and greeting the New Year, the whole group of artists gathered for a short feast. This is where they got the baking soda. When its contents were poured into the dish, they saw that there was a liter of three pink, pleasantly smelly liquid. In taste, it was not bad.
Boris Kiselyov, recalling that working day, said: "And what is interesting, the alcoholic cocktail was enough for the whole group that gathered." And he added, “Imagine how the show would end if I had to drink all this alone.”
This happened more than forty years ago. Per today the ingenuity of the theatrical artist will help someone to meet another new year in a healthy mind and a solid memory.