Toilet Irish Dancers: The Funny Video Explained

Toilet Irish Dancers is a clip of just over two minutes. A line of dancers in full Lord of the Dance mode is desperate for one portable toilet. The twist? They aren’t Irish. It appears to come from Czech TV in 2004, danced by the Czech army’s folk ensemble.

Oh man, I love discovering funny Irish videos on YouTube. This one came up as quite a surprise.

A line of dancers stamps away in perfect time, Riverdance style. There’s one small problem. They all have to use the bathroom.

I found it hysterical and a great way to use Irish dance in a unique way. So where did it come from? The answer is even better than the clip.

Here it is. Yes, the video quality is a bit low, but I am sure you will find it entertaining.

What happens in the Toilet Irish Dancers clip

A row of male dancers stands shoulder to shoulder on a TV stage. They wear matching white embroidered shirts and light breeches. Beside them is a portable toilet with a blue door.

YouTube’s own music credit links it to Ronan Hardiman’s Lord of the Dance score. The steps are pure stage show: fast feet, straight backs and, for much of it, arms pinned to the sides.

The joke is simple. Every man in the line needs that toilet, and the strict dance style won’t let him show it. The upper body tries its best to stay proud and still. Below the waist, things are getting urgent. When guys have to, they have to! Haha

Who are the Toilet Irish Dancers?

They aren’t Irish dancers at all.

The upload I’ve embedded is a 2017 re-share. An older upload from 2012, titled “Ondráš: Irish Dance”, points to the real source. It shows the same stage, the same costumes and the same portable toilet.

That uploader says it comes from Manéž Bolka Polívky, a Czech TV comedy show. They link to Česká televize’s archive page for an episode dated 5 June 2004. Its guest list includes Soubor Ondráš, the Ondráš ensemble.

Other uploads show Ondráš dancing the same number live, under the name “WC Dance”, at a festival in Liptál in 2005.

So the clip appears to come from Czech TV in 2004. It’s a staged comedy number, not an ad and not a prank.

VUS Ondráš, the Czech army’s folk ensemble

VUS Ondráš is the Military Art Ensemble of the Czech army, based in Brno. The ensemble’s own text says it was set up by the Ministry of Defence.

It started in 1954 as an army song and dance ensemble. It took the name Ondráš, after a Silesian outlaw, in the 1990s. Today it has almost 100 members and has toured Japan, the USA and the UK.

Its main work is folk dance from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, plus original shows. Clearly that includes the odd toilet. Those white shirts and breeches are Central European folk costume.

The host, Bolek Polívka

Bolek Polívka is a Czech actor and clown from Vizovice. Czech news channel ČT24 says his show has hosted clown acts by him and his guests since 1987. So this is a clown’s variety show having fun with Lord of the Dance.

Why don’t Irish dancers move their arms?

The gag only works because of one rule everyone knows. In Irish dance, the arms stay down. Ask around and you’ll hear a few stories:

Dancers hid behind half-doors so the English wouldn’t see them having fun.
The Church disapproved, so people kept it small.
People danced on a door laid on the floor, with no room to swing an arm.

These are folk explanations. As far as I can find, none of them has solid evidence behind it.

The Church was certainly wary of dancing in general. An RTÉ Brainstorm piece by Daniel Carey of DCU covers the Public Dance Halls Act 1935. It’s about dance halls, though. Arms don’t come into it.

The likelier answer: competitions

The Gaelic League, founded in 1893, built up the feis system. A feis (plural feiseanna) is a local festival with dance competitions.

CLRG’s own history says the Gaelic League ran most feiseanna between 1890 and 1930. Competition rules and judges then set a uniform look: straight back, arms by the sides, all eyes on the feet.

Some historians also point to the dancing masters of the late 1700s and early 1800s, who taught a formal, upright carriage. Either way, that stillness shows off the footwork.

The day Flatley waved his arms

Which brings us to Eurovision 1994. In 2024, RTÉ reported what Michael Flatley told BBC News about that night. He says he was told dance teachers had been ringing in. Just before he went on, the message came: “Please don’t wave your arms around.”

He said no, and went on in a flowing green satin shirt. The rest is history.

Riverdance, Lord of the Dance and the spoofs

Riverdance’s official site says the act was performed on 30 April 1994 at the Point Theatre in Dublin. It lasted seven minutes, with music by Bill Whelan. Riverdance puts the TV audience at 300 million.

Flatley later created Lord of the Dance, with its long lines of dancers in matching costumes. Anything that famous gets spoofed.

More funny Irish dancing moments on TV

Stavros Flatley, Britain’s Got Talent 2009: a north London father and son, Demetrios and Lagi Demetriou, did a comedy Flatley spoof (RTÉ).
“She’s an Irish Dancer”, SNL, March 2026: in a St Patrick’s Day sketch, Harry Styles and the lads chat up women at a club who turn out to be Irish step dancers.

Irish dance today

Behind the jokes, Irish dance is a serious global sport. The main governing body, An Coimisiún le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), was set up in the early 1930s. It says it now covers more than 20 countries on six continents.

Its world championships are called Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne, or simply the Worlds. Covering the 2025 Worlds in Dublin, The Irish Times said the week draws about 5,000 competitors from more than 30 countries.

The 2026 Worlds were in Schaumburg, Illinois. CLRG’s next All-Ireland championships are in Killarney, Co. Kerry, from 14 to 20 February 2027.

A Cork connection

One for the home crowd. One of the earliest feiseanna was held in Co. Cork in 1898. So you can thank us for that.

A few Irish dancing jokes

How can you tell if an Irish dancer is happy? You can’t. Only the feet are allowed to say.

What do you call an Irish dancer who forgot his hard shoes? A soft touch.

Why did the Irish dancer stand beside the portable toilet? He’d heard it was a reel emergency.

For plenty more, try my funny Irish jokes.

Toilet Irish Dancers FAQ

Who are the Toilet Irish Dancers?

They appear to be dancers from VUS Ondráš, the Czech army’s folk ensemble in Brno. The clip seems to come from the Czech TV show Manéž Bolka Polívky in 2004.

Are the dancers in the toilet video Irish?

No. They’re Czech folk dancers sending up the Lord of the Dance style. It’s a staged comedy routine.

Why don’t Irish dancers move their arms?

Nobody knows for sure. Stories about hiding from the English are unproven. The likelier answer is that feis competition rules set the arms-down style.

What other funny Irish dancing videos are there?

Stavros Flatley on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009 is a classic. In March 2026, SNL ran a St Patrick’s Day sketch, She’s an Irish Dancer, with Harry Styles as host.

More Irish fun

Featured photo: Irish Dance by Jonjobaker, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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