I've been trying to keep up with all the etiquette threads and elite session threads and kindred matters, for lots of reasons. Mostly just to hear (and learn from) the great diversity of views offered, but also for the occasional chuckle. Well, last night I happened to be at a quiet little house party when one of those "magical ettiquette moments" occurred that left me chuckling at its brilliance. We were at that time in the evening when we were doing our respective party pieces. One of the guys in the group doesn't "do Irish", but is an accomplished blues singer/picker (with a 4 & half octave voice). He was picking and singing a tune called "It's My Blues Too" while another guy was trying to play along on the mandolin. Finaly, the singer stopped singing, shifted into a complex chordal sequence, smiled, and said to the off-key-off-everything mando picker: "take it away, Joe". Stunned at suddenly being thrust center stage, the mando guy tried his damnedest to rise to the challenge, but fell substantially short of the mark. The rest of us spontaneously laughed and clapped; laughing, I suppose at his failure, but applauding his willingness to accept the challenge. When the laughing/clapping subsided, he put down the mando and the singer/picker, who had continued his chord progressions, resumed the song. Mando-man was a bit embarassed, but only time will tell if he learned anything.