IT'S NOT often you get to spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon being entertained by the world's most-tattooed man - while he is wearing a kilt on a unicycle, juggling two machetes and eating an apple at the same time.
New Zealand-born Lucky Diamond Rich (37), who holds the Guinness world record as most-tattooed man, performed death-defying and hilarious feats - sword-swallowing, chainsaw-juggling - for the entertainment of patrons at the 6th International Dublin Tattoo Convention.
The event drew about 2,500 visitors from all over the world to Ballsbridge at the weekend, including Britain, France, the US, Germany, Poland, Turkey, Russia and Italy.
Tattooing may just be the one area that hasn't yet been hit by recession - every one of the 135 or so tattoo artists was busy from morning until night.
A packed Ballsbridge Inn hotel throbbed with rock music and was abuzz with tattoo needles - an electric atmosphere in more ways than one.
It was hard to find someone to talk to who wasn't either doing a hugely complex piece of artwork on a body part or sitting deadly still while having some ink applied. Men and women of all ages sported designs from the conventional to the exotic.
Books of Celtic designs and native American art were on display along with tigers, panthers and naked ladies displayed on chests, necks, legs, buttocks and backs.
Peter O'Connor (63), from Rialto, Dublin, was sporting a fresh design across his chest. He said it's almost impossible to attend such a convention and not come home with even a small "souvenir".
Karen Russell, a tattoo artist based in Cork, agrees tattooing has "unfortunately" gone mainstream and that television shows such as Miami Inkdon't necessarily help.
"The good thing about that is that people are a lot more educated about the kind of work they can have done. So people come in with more elaborate work than they would have done five or 10 years ago. It has become so much more popular though that it's becoming more homogenised."
All of the artists were carefully selected by event organiser Paddy O'Donohoe, who runs a piercing and body-modification studio in Temple Bar, Dublin.
O'Donohoe, who has extensive piercing and tattoo work himself, was delighted with the weekend turnout but didn't have a spare minute to have any new work done. "These are some of the best artists in the world," he said.
Bret Zarro from Oneanta, upstate New York, also a painter and portrait artist, had some pre-booked clients but many people had spontaneous tattoos.
"I did a very large tribal piece on a guy from Norway and also some Indian motif stuff on a girl's feet."
As he left the packed hall, the world's most-tattooed man summed up the vibe: "Whether you have your whole body tattooed or just a little dot, what you represent is a celebration of living your life the way you want."