IT IS TO LAUGH
EDNA GEISTER
IT IS TO LAUGH
_A Book of Games and Stunts_
BY
EDNA GEISTER
ADVISOR AND DIRECTOR OF RECREATION
_Author of “Ice-Breakers,” “The Ice-Breaker
Herself,” etc._
[Illustration]
THE WOMANS PRESS
600 LEXINGTON AVENUE
NEW YORK CITY
COPYRIGHT, 1922,
BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FOREWORD
Amos R. Wells said, “Recreation is re-creation, or a re-fashioning of
the soul in the image of God wherein it was created.”
Real recreation is just that. All through the war every effort was
made to fill the leisure time of soldiers and sailors with recreation
rather than dissipation, the kind of recreation that made leisure time
an asset rather than a liability. Since the war, with the great impetus
it gave the movement, recreation work in churches, in communities, in
schools, and in almost every kind of social service work, has been put
on the same constructive basis, and it is being looked upon not merely
as a side issue or as “entertainment,” but rather is respected as one
of the most vital forces for a re-fashioning of souls in the image of
God wherein they were created.
“It Is to Laugh” was written for the purpose of answering requests of
re-creators everywhere, who are in constant need of new material in
their recreative work. The games and stunts described do “entertain,”
but behind the inevitable resultant hearty, healthy laughter is the
re-creation that gives one a new lease on life, that makes one sure
that life is good to live, and that helps one to live life joyfully and
abundantly. If “It Is to Laugh” may help in accomplishing this, it will
have served its purpose.
Many of the ideas for these games are not original but have come
from co-workers in the Y.W.C.A., from members of training classes
at the University of Chicago, and from delegates to recreational
conferences all over the country, and I wish in this way to express my
sincere appreciation of their coöperation, and to thank them for their
invaluable assistance in promoting the gospel of re-creation.
EDNA GEISTER.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I MIXERS 11
II GROUP GAMES 31
GAMES FOR SMALL GROUPS 31
GAMES FOR LARGE GROUPS 47
GAMES FOR EITHER LARGE OR SMALL GROUPS 53
III RACES 63
IV TRICK GAMES 77
V PICNICS! 105
RACES 105
PICNIC GAMES 114
TAG GAMES 122
VI PARTNERS, REFRESHMENTS AND DINNER TABLE AMUSEMENT 127
TO FIND PARTNERS 127
REFRESHMENTS 131
DINNER TABLE AMUSEMENT 135
INDEX 139
IT IS TO LAUGH
IT IS TO LAUGH
CHAPTER I.
MIXERS.
The time set for the party is 8 o’clock, but by 8:15 there are about
twenty arrivals instead of the one hundred expected, and they are
standing about stiff and formal, politely ready to do anything the
program committee asks, so that they may go home feeling virtuous in
having done their duty, but dangerously near the attitude of mind
that will tempt them, the next time a party is announced, to follow
Rebecca’s example of “letting duty go to smash!”--all this unless
something happens, and that, right away!
At one time we might have met this situation by putting on a simple
little game to keep those twenty guests there until the rest of the
crowd came, but it was hardly necessary to make that mistake twice to
realize the futility of those tactics. Any game is a flat failure that
does not call forth a real social spirit and a real play spirit, but
that spirit does not just happen. It must be definitely worked for and
created through socializing games, while just “fill-ins till the crowd
comes” can utterly ruin the prospects for creating that spirit that
makes recreation, re-creation. For example, “The Gathering of the Nuts”
invariably brings down the house when it is given its right place in
an evening’s program, but presented at the first of the evening when
guests are straggling in, one by one, and there is as yet no relaxation
and group spirit, it would inevitably be a dismal failure.
Therefore, instead of putting on some casual stunt just to keep guests
from leaving, or just to fill in time till the other guests arrive, we
have found it far more advisable to have informal group singing around
the piano for the first ten or fifteen minutes, and then begin the
evening proper, even if there are only some twenty or thirty guests
present, with a game that is very definitely a mixer, the one purpose
of which is not so much to entertain as to “socialize,” in almost every
case the mixer being some big general movement in which there is a lot
of fun and nonsense just like there is in the games that follow later,
but with this important difference--that every person present is in
this first event in some game that pries him loose from the corner he
chose on arrival as his abiding place for the evening; a game that
gives him an incentive other than a sense of duty for shaking hands
vigorously with his fellow guests; a game that makes him feel this
party as his own personal responsibility; in short, a game which shows
him that he alone counts as nothing, but that he, together with every
other guest present, counts for everything.
“Spots” is a splendid example of a mixer that will so thoroughly mix up
a group of guests that they never will succeed in getting sorted out
again into their original classifications:
Spots.
The leader has chosen seven or eight places in the room as the “spots,”
and has a list of them at hand. All of them have been carefully
chosen, and she alone knows where they are. Guests are standing about
informally when the announcement is made that in about two minutes a
whistle will be blown, at which time the couple standing on a certain
spot will receive a handsome reward. At the same time however, anyone
seen standing alone will be fined. A partner is essential to winning a
prize or to make one immune to a fine. Even if a person is standing on
the lucky spot at the time the whistle blows, if he is alone he must
pay the fine, one cent.
To promote a general moving around, and to add to the spirit of the
game, lively march music is played all the time the guests are supposed
to be moving, although no definite line of march is encouraged.
Two additional rules insure the success of “Spots.” After the first
spot has been found and the prize awarded, the game goes on and another
spot in some other part of the room is the lucky one. But no person can
have the same partner he had while the first spot was being sought. The
same fine of one cent is imposed on any two people who seem to think
they have an option on each other.
The same thing is true of location. Anyone found standing in the same
place he occupied during the first round, is fined, with much publicity.
The game goes on until the seven or eight spots have been located and
the “handsome rewards” given out. All the spots have been chosen with
the purpose in mind to get guests absolutely relaxed, thoroughly mixed
and free from any stiff formality. That is why a definite line of march
would be fatal. Instead, let the first spot be behind the piano; the
next on the platform; the next leaning up against a pillar, etc., etc.
To sum up, the rules are as follows:
1. Everyone must have a partner.
2. Partners must be changed for every round.
3. No one is allowed to stand in the same place for two successive
rounds.
Four or five so-called “policemen” assist the leader in detecting
violators of these rules and much publicity is given the fining of the
offenders.
The success of the game depends entirely on the ability of the leader
to make her guests feel the great desirability of finding one of those
elusive lucky spots. No one knows where they are. All they know is that
it behooves them to move, to get a partner, to keep moving, and to keep
on getting partners!
Shake Hands!
Now shake hands, everybody, whether you know each other or not. Let’s
be sociable. Shake hands!
You have heard that before? And immediately you started in to shake
hands with friend and foe and foreigner? Hardly. No real incentive
is offered there for shaking hands with people you have never seen
before or people you see every day of your life, no incentive other
than a sense of duty, and a sense of duty is not what one would call
particularly successful in promoting the real spirit of sociability
which makes a social evening, or the lack of which, breaks it.
It does seem so inane to ask people to shake hands with each other, and
yet, if a leader can once get a group to laugh heartily as a group, if
she can give them a sufficiently interesting incentive for grasping the
hand of a neighbor with real vim and enthusiasm even if it is for the
purpose of saving themselves from dire penalties!--they are won and one
for the rest of the evening! But just telling guests to be sociable and
to shake hands will not do it.
It is necessary to create a setting and furnish an incentive, and
instead of playing on the guest’s sense of duty, to play on their sense
of humor.
They are invited to shake hands with each other, but are warned that
the only handshake allowed is a vigorous side-to-side swing, and are
further cautioned that it is fully as great a crime to be seen using
the ordinary handshake as it is to be caught not shaking hands at
all; that several “policemen” in the crowd will see to it that these
laws are enforced; and finally, that any violator of these laws will
certainly repent at leisure and in public.
Some ten policemen are chosen, their number of course depending on the
size of the group. At a signal the handshaking begins. The policemen
are more than vigilant in discharging their duties, and several
culprits who were caught standing about “just looking on”, and some of
the ladies who shook hands in a manner not vigorous enough to suit the
policemen, are escorted to the platform, there to sit in the public
eye till the leader’s whistle stops the frantic, vigorous handshaking,
which should be given about five minutes time.
The next game of the evening might well be a hoax, with these culprits
used as the victims.
Southpaws.
This is very much like “Shake Hands” in its object and in its rulings.
The difference lies in the kind of handshaking permitted. The rule is
that the left hand only is to be used in shaking hands. At irregular
intervals a whistle is blown and anyone caught not actually shaking the
left hand of some other guest at that particular moment is punished in
the same way in which culprits in the game “Shake Hands!” are taken
care of.
Of course there are policemen, whose one object in life is to catch
someone napping, or a bit negligent in the evidence he gives of a very
active and left-handed spirit of sociability!
My Virtues!
“Mrs. Kalen, let me present Mr. Black.”
“Mrs. Frummly, have you met Mr. Stewart?” and so on, world without end!
This, at a large gathering, the one object of which is to get members
of a community to really know each other! And at that, if it were
possible for the hosts to see that every guest was introduced to every
other guest, would even that do a great deal toward helping members of
a community to know each other, other than to have spoken one another’s
names? Put a human and socializing element in those introductions, and
they will know more about each other than just names, and what’s more,
they’ll like each other!
The men form one line and the women another, all of them facing the
front of the room. When the music starts the men march down one side
of the room to the back, and the women down the other. They meet and
take partners as they come in the line of march, coming up the center
of the room with their partners. When they reach the front, all couples
march to the right, forming a large double circle around the room. The
leader then makes an announcement to the effect that in order to make
sure that everyone knows all the virtues of his fellow guests, splendid
opportunities will be given for the flaunting of those virtues.
Partners face each other, shake hands, introduce themselves, and then,
with hands on hips, begin telling all the nice things they know about
themselves, real or imaginary.
The only difficulty is that they have to do it at the same time, which
makes it hard occasionally for one’s partner to hear about all the
lovely qualities one possesses or aspires to possess! They are given
just a minute for this when another whistle is blown which is a signal
for the men only to walk forward until a second whistle stops them. The
woman nearest them is their next partner. They shake hands with these
new partners, and one’s virtues again become the topic of importance.
This continues for not more than five minutes. That will be enough!
Is it necessary to say that next day, when Mrs. Kalen meets Mr. Black
at the bank, that she doesn’t wonder, “Have I ever met that man
before?” Rather, it is, “Why, good morning, Mr. Black! Are you still
the perfect man you thought yourself last night?”
Prohibited Words.
We have used over and over again the game in which certain words are
prohibited, but we used it as a game that had a definite time limit.
It has proved far more effective to put a ban on those words for the
entire evening. Perhaps these words are “Yes” and “No,” or “You” and
“I.” All through the evening those words are forbidden. Anyone heard
using them pays a fine to the one who caught him making that social
error.
At each offense a fine of one candy or one bean or one of whatever
thing is used as the means of exchange, is exacted from the one who
made the error. This means of exchange may depend on the season. On
Valentine Day it might be little candy hearts in small bags; at Easter,
little candy eggs; or at Christmas, tiny bright red candies. However,
just plain beans may be used, a small bag being provided in which to
carry them.
Perhaps you think that if candy is used, your guests may eat their
means of exchange before the evening is half over. Warn them against
it. Then, at the end of the evening, just before the last game, ask for
a count of their “money,” and as it happens, “To him that hath shall
be given.” The richest one is given additional riches in the shape of
a box of candy, with the assurance that he need not open it till he
gets home! The ten who made the most lapses and consequently have the
least money, and those who ate most of their money, are obliged to give
up any they still hold and to sit on the platform as the infant class
while their brighter and less greedy brothers and sisters march past
them, munching their candy!
It is easy enough to remember not to say “Yes” or “No” to anyone, when
that is the particular game of the moment, but to have to remember
not to use those words through all the nonsense of the evening is a
slightly different matter. Another very good phase of this game as a
mixer is that it gives a real incentive for people to talk to each
other, even if they have never seen one another before--all for the
sake of a bean!
Gossip.
A circle is formed, with from three to six people in the center, their
number to be determined by the size of the circle. Guests are warned
that it is the object of these people in the center to get out of
it, and that the only way they can do it is to get someone else in,
in their place; that their method of doing this is very effective,
and that it behooves every last one of them to learn the name and
occupation of his neighbor on either side, together with one juicy bit
of gossip concerning him.
At a signal from the leader, each one of the people in the center turns
around, snaps his fingers at some person who did not expect it, and
asks this victim to instantly give all the required information about
both of his neighbors. If he fails, into the center he goes, changing
places with the person who caught him napping.
The neighbor is supposed to offer the juicy bit of gossip himself, but
sometimes his imagination fails him, or his egotism overcomes him, and
it is up to the victim pointed at to use his own imagination. Therefore
it is not unusual to have the following information shouted out by
an excited victim who fears a place in the center: “My right-hand
neighbor’s name is The Minister; his occupation is ministering and he
has been in jail four times!”
All the others in the center have been asking for information at the
same time and after a minute or two the leader calls out, “Change your
neighbors!” and everyone is to find a new set of neighbors for himself.
A great deal of publicity and a place in the center is promised anyone
who does not get into a new neighborhood!
This game is played not more than five minutes, for with such an
incentive all guests will know each other intimately long before five
minutes are over!
It Pays to Advertise.
As each guest comes in the door he is given a slip of paper on which
is written a number. When all the guests have arrived the leader asks
all “tens” to congregate at the piano, while “threes” get together in
one corner, “fives” in another, etc., etc. As the different groups
assemble the leader goes rapidly from one group to another, and reading
from her list, assigns each group some advertisement which they are
to dramatize. A few impromptu properties such as a shrunken sweater,
candles, newspapers, and crackers, are available.
After the four or five minutes allowed for preparation, each group
in turn dramatizes the advertisement assigned it, and must continue
action until the audience guesses correctly what advertisement is being
represented. To avoid the situation which often develops when such a
contest is on, an announcement is made to the effect that there is
to be no guessing until the actors have completed their stunt. Then
if there is no correct guess, the dramatization must begin again and
continue until it is made so realistic that the audience guesses what
it is in self-defense, or else gives up in dismay!
The following suggestions may be helpful:
1. _Ivory Soap._ “_It Floats._” Members of the group go flitting about
the stage as though they were walking on air, waving their arms and in
general acting in ethereal fashion.
2. _Eversharp._ Riddles which have been prepared beforehand are put to
a class by the teacher. The class having been thoroughly drilled in the
answers, respond with a snap and a brilliancy that amazes the audience!
3. _Uneeda Biscuit._ Let them pantomime exhaustion, plainly showing by
their actions that they are starved. A doctor rushes in, makes them
stick out their tongues, (which they do with artistic effect), sing up
the scale, blow up their cheeks, holding them that way indefinitely,
close one eye, etc. In short, he carefully diagnoses the case, after
which he swells up with pride at having found what the trouble was. He
dashes to his bag, takes out a box of crackers, and makes each patient
eat one, whereupon they all hop around, exhibiting marvelous life and
enthusiasm, apparently cured for life.
4. _Blue Jay Corn Plaster._ The men of the group take the part of
the blue jays, blue because of aching corns which they indicate by a
mournful expression and painful hobbling around. The “jay” element
is taken care of by tousled hair and disheveled clothing. They give
evidence of considerable pain, which evidence grows louder and
louder until the women of the group come dashing in as nurses, with
handkerchiefs or pieces of white cloth bound about their heads. They
inquire in pantomime about the cause of such evident trouble and having
learned it, bind up the entire foot of the patient, thereby making life
again worth living for the “Blue Jays.”
5. _Whistle._ It speaks for itself.
6. _Bon Ami._ The men come running in with smudges on their faces,
followed in great haste by the ladies, who are very evidently trying
to catch them. Finally they succeed and holding their victims firmly
by the shoulders, with handkerchiefs as instruments of torture they
pantomime a vigorous face-scrubbing, polishing the face as they
would a window. When they have finished, they view the results with
much satisfaction, while their victims pantomime the discomfort they
undoubtedly feel.
7. _Pears’ Soap._ All the members of a group are “paired” off and
either wander about in pairs or busily wash each others’ faces, always
in pairs.
8. _Colgate’s Toothpaste._ “Lies flat on the brush.” A man appears,
throws a hairbrush on the floor and lies down “flat upon it.”
9. _Wool Soap._ A large lady whose arms are sticking through the
sleeves of a white sweater many sizes too small for her, looks
tragically at the result of her not having used Wool Soap, while the
rest of the group go into spasms of mirth at the picture she presents.
10. _Fiske Tires._ “Time to Retire.” All the members of this group file
stumblingly across the stage, each one carrying a candle and yawning,
and looking so irresistibly sleepy that everyone in the audience yawns
just to look at them!
With some groups it will not be necessary to provide advertisements,
and it will be sufficient to announce that each group is to think of
its own and that a prize will be given to the most original stunt, but
with the average group it is very helpful to have either a list of
advertisements at hand, together with properties, or to be sure that
in each group there is someone who can be depended upon to take the
initiative for that group in putting on a really effective stunt. I
speak from experience!
Limited Conversation.
Perhaps you are responsible for the “socializing” of a very large
group, most of the guests being strangers to each other, and you wish
to break the ice and to get guests into the spirit that makes for easy
and truly social conversation.
To announce certain topics of conversation and ask that everyone talk
on just those topics with one’s neighbors in such a group as has just
been described, often has an effect that is more tongue-tieing than
socializing in its effect, and a human kink must be put into the plan
to make it really effective in getting your guests into the relaxed
and jovial spirit that does wonders with a group, however large or
“strange.”
A list of topics for conversation is made out as usual, but a ruling
is added that makes conversation on these topics far more difficult
and therefore far more interesting than just plain conversation which
is very evidently for the purpose of “mixing up” a strange group. That
ruling might be that every statement must be the very opposite of what
one really thinks about the question of the moment. For example, the
question may be, “Do you believe in Woman Suffrage?” According to the
ruling, no matter how thoroughly a man despises the thought of Woman
Suffrage, he is obliged to vehemently defend it, and no matter how
ardent a suffragette his immediate neighbor may be, she is to scorn it
with every breath.
After a minute or two the next topic is announced. It might be “What do
you like best?” and everyone is to pick upon the thing he most dislikes
and eulogize it to the best of his ability. That same ruling applies to
all the six or seven topics announced, and to say the least, startling
statements are the result, to say nothing of the hilarity that is
inevitable over a conversation with the Baptist minister’s wife who
vows that picking potato bugs is her favorite pastime!
This group is a large one, so no effort is made to pair guests off with
partners but topics are announced, together with the ruling that one’s
immediate neighbors are one’s partners, and that guards will patrol the
room to see that no one talks on any subject but the one announced, to
see that everyone _is_ talking, and that the limitation imposed is very
strictly observed. To make sure that they talk to more than one person
the guests are asked to change their immediate neighborhoods between
topics. The breaking of any of these rules calls for a forfeit.
If one is entertaining a small group in a home, a progressive system
of partners is arranged, by which guests progress from one partner to
another. Each one is given a card on which a number is written, ladies
holding even numbers and men, odd. On the men’s cards in addition, is
written their conversation program, namely, the numbers of the partners
they are to have for the different topics of conversation, and it is
their business to hunt up each new partner as the signal for the change
is given. For example, Mr. Hunt is No. 5. His program reads: 6, 8, 2,
12, 4, 10. That means that for the first topic his partner is to be No.
6 and that when the game starts he is to hunt her up and talk earnestly
with her on the first topic. A bell is rung after about two minutes and
he must hunt up No. 8 and talk with her about the second topic, and so
he progresses from one partner to another until he has talked with his
last partner on the last topic.
Another limitation which may be applied to conversation is that all
statements must contain one’s own initials. The question may be, “What
is your favorite sport?” Mr. Graham’s initials are S. M. G. so his
favorite sport is obliged to be, “Selling moldy groceries!”
Still another limitation maybe that all remarks be untruths. A further
limitation, and a painful one, but one which is particularly good for
a small crowd, is that all statements must be made in rhyme, no matter
how inevitably abominable the rhyming may be!
Topics may include any possible subject, from current events to modes
of dress. The following list is typical:
1. What is your favorite sport?
2. Do you believe in Protective Tariff?
3. Will bobbed hair stay with us?
4. Who is your favorite poet?
5. What is your occupation?
6. What do you like best to eat?
7. What would you like to be?
A period of two or three minutes is given for each conversation.
The whole affair should last not longer than from fifteen to twenty
minutes. You will find that that will be plenty long enough! Imagine
a period not longer than that for a conversation on the above topics,
carried on in rhyme!
The following are the answers given by the principal of the High School
at a church party in a Middle West town:
1. “To ride a big fat elephant has always been my favorite stunt.”
2. “I’d hate to have you think I’m rude, but what is it, a breakfast
food?”
3. “I really don’t profess to know, but I hope to goodness it will
go.”
4. “Walt Mason is my favorite poet, he’s got the goods and he can
show it.”
5. “I am a banker brave and bold; I grab the cash and keep it cold.”
6. “Most everything’s what I like best; to get enough, there lies the
test.”
7. “I’d like to be a billionaire and make the whole world stand and
stare.”
Holidays.
The question as to their birthmonths is asked of the guests, and they
are grouped together accordingly, the Januarys over behind the piano,
the Junes at the rear entrance, etc., etc. Each group is then asked
to dramatize a holiday of the month it represents. No properties have
been made available as this is to be distinctly an impromptu affair.
They are all given about ten minutes for preparation, and then they
are called on, one by one, to do their stunts. They are not called by
name however, but by “location.” For example, the first group called on
might be the one in the bay window, and the next, the one in the dining
room.
When each group has finished its stunt, and only then, the audience is
to guess what holiday they represent, and if the guesses are incorrect,
the stunt must be repeated.
The following list of holidays has been found to work to good advantage.
1. January--New Year.
2. February--Washington’s birthday.
3. March--St. Patrick’s Day.
4. April--April Fool’s Day.
5. May--May Day.
6. June--Anybody’s Wedding.
7. July--July Fourth.
8. August--Mr. Ribbon Clerk’s Vacation.
9. September--Labor Day.
10. October--Hallowe’en.
11. November--Thanksgiving.
12. December--Christmas.
Bag Handshake.
Each guest is given a paper bag which is to be put on his right hand.
He is to shake hands with everyone in sight, the bag being an indicator
of how zealous he has been in his efforts! As soon as it is worn out he
may rest in peace, but not until then.
The Little Theater.
The plan of “Holidays” is used over and over with different “motives.”
One of them is musical. The words of a song like “Yankee Doodle” are
written out on separate slips which are numbered alike. They might all
be numbered. “1.” The second song might be “Dixie,” and its words are
similarly written out on slips and numbered “2.” Each guest is given a
number and is asked to find all others who have the same number. When
everyone has found his or her group they are to have just a very few
minutes in which to practice their song. When the time is up the leader
calls out each group in turn and asks them to sing their song, at the
same time putting enough dramatic action into their performance to
really get the motive of the song across! The group which the judges
agree on as best gets a bag of peanuts.
Dressing Up.
There is nothing like “dressing up” to make a crowd relax and laugh.
Therefore, with a large group of guests, most of them strangers to one
another, use caps and bells for as successful a mixer as you could
desire. Fancy paper caps can be bought very inexpensively when bought
in quantity, and the same is true of tiny bells. Each guest is provided
with a little bell which has a string attached by which to hang it
around his neck, and also one of these foolish paper caps. They are all
asked to put on both bells and caps and to keep them on all evening.
A crowd of guests thusly adorned looks foolish enough to furnish
entertainment for a long, long time!
Circle Handshake.
It is good psychology to have a genuine mixer at the end of the evening
as well as at the beginning. After the last game, the guests form a
circle. The leader asks the one standing nearest the door to shake
hands with his right-hand neighbor, and then to continue shaking hands
all the way around the circle, telling each one “Good-night” until he
has gone completely around, after which he drops out of the circle.
At the same time however, all the others are beginning to do the same
thing. He had no sooner finished shaking hands with his right-hand
neighbor and gone on to the next one and then on to the next, than this
same right-hand neighbor began doing the same thing, shaking the hand
of _his_ neighbor to the right, and so on around the circle. Each
one does the same thing, that is, after No. 2 has passed No. 3, No. 3
starts immediately to shake hands around the circle, and as soon as he
passes No. 4, No. 4 does the same thing.
In this way it is inevitable that everyone shakes hands with everyone
else and bids them all “Good-night.”