TRICK GAMES.
Plato said, “One can discover more about a person in an hour’s play
with him than is possible in a year’s conversation with him.”
We found out the real truth of that in our war work with soldiers and
sailors, and we are continuing to see its truth in our recreation
work in communities all over this country. It is a real revelation
to a church to see how splendid an example of good sportsmanship the
minister sets when he is absolutely duped in a trick game that sent the
others into gales of good-natured laughter, with him, not at him, and
yet comes through it laughing as heartily as anyone, and sincerely glad
for the huge enjoyment the game created!
Trick games are invaluable not only for developing the finest kind
of sportsmanship in victims and onlookers alike, however, but they
are invaluable too as “fillers-in” for awkward pauses in an evening’s
program. That is their forte, to bridge over awkward pauses, to keep
interest high, to call forth hearty laughter and best of all, to create
the finest kind of spirit in a social gathering.
Wrong!
Tell your guests that there are three words in the English language
which are particularly difficult to spell, and that a person who can
spell them correctly can spell almost any word. Ask some individual to
spell the word “receive.” He spells it correctly and you compliment him
and then ask him to spell “believe.” He does spell it right, but you
shake your head and laughingly say, “Wrong”! Say nothing more than that
but repeat it several times at his insisting that he spelled “believe”
correctly. Usually the next step is, “Well let’s start over again
because I know I spelled those words correctly!” If the request is
not forthcoming, make the suggestion yourself and start all over with
“receive,” and after “believe” again shake your head and look shocked
beyond words at the ignorance evidenced, and say “Wrong!”
If you are not fatally injured by this time, suggest again that you
start from the beginning, and again after “believe” say “Wrong,” with a
shocked look. Eventually your victim will arrive and spell “W-r-o-n-g!”
Palmistry.
This is always done by some very attractive girl. She will guarantee
to read the palm of any man present, and leave it to the crowd if all
she reads in his palm is not in accordance with what they know of him.
Some well-known and popular man is chosen as the subject, and with the
rest of the guests silent so that everything she says may be heard,
she begins reading his palm. Her conversation may run as follows:
“Now this is your head line, and it shows that you have a great many
possibilities which you are not developing. Your heart line over here
is woefully cracked. I’m not going into detail there! Your life line is
firm and unbroken and it shows almost no ill health, but it does show
an early and painful death because this line right here (pointing to
any other line) shows that you are an awful flirt and let young ladies
hold your hand right out in public!”
Of What Are Matches Made?
This is best for a small group. Arrange four squares of matches on
a table or a book. Ask your guests to take away four matches, and
rearrange three, thus writing out the name of the thing of which
matches are made. Invariably they will try to spell “Wood” and they
have a real task ahead of them. What matches are really made of is
“love,” which is very easy to spell in the required way!
Crystal Gazing.
Choose a guest who is fairly dignified but ready to appreciate a joke
even though the joke be on him. Tell him that to read his thoughts is
really a simple matter if he will look into quiet waters and do just
what you tell him to do. Be perfectly serious in all that you say, for
if you act as though it is going to be something funny, you scare off
the bravest guest ever entertained.
Take two glasses of water, full to the brim. You take a sip out of one
and ask him to take one from the other. Then slowly move the glasses
around in a circular motion two or three times. Ask your victim to
kneel and to place both hands on the floor with fingers spread out to
enable him to hold the glasses securely without spilling any water. Put
a glass on each hand, very emphatically stating that for either you
or him to spill even one drop of water is against the spirit of the
proceeding. Make a real point of this, for subjects are always scared
to death that you are going to throw water on them, and I can’t say
that I’d appreciate that little bit of humor myself.
After the glasses are safely placed on his hands your conversation
should run something like this: “Wait till that water quiets down and
then look very intently into the glass on your right hand, the one out
of which you drank. Then make a wish, a real one, not about something
silly like the weather, but a wish that could come true before the
end of the year. Don’t tell us what your wish is but tell us when you
have made it, and almost at once I can tell you what your wish was and
whether it will come true or not.”
That is the correct time for you to go to another and healthier part
of the room. “Well, I’ve made my wish,” comes almost at once. Your
reply is an indifferent, “Oh that’s all right. That doesn’t make any
difference!” and you pay no more attention to his protests until the
other guests have had their fill of the hilarious laughter that is
inevitable at his ridiculous plight, whereupon you tell him that he is
wishing you would take the water off his hands, and that his wish will
come true!
Paralysis.
This can be the funniest thing imaginable. Choose someone who is
not liable to look very deeply into the hidden meaning of your
explanations. Tell him that if he will do exactly as you ask, you can
hypnotize him so that it will be physically impossible for him to get
up alone. Let me give you a skull and crossbones warning to put your
emphasis on “alone,” and not on “up.”
You and your victim are seated facing each other, but make a great
point of the fact that you don’t have to touch him to hypnotize him.
Ask him to look straight into your eyes and try to get into the spirit
of the thing. He is to do everything you do and in the same way. That
always seems to make victims feel that if you can do it without bodily
injury, they too stand a good chance of coming out of it alive!
The process of hypnotism is on. Make the most ridiculous motions you
can think of, accompanied by the most ridiculous noises, all the time
looking intently at your subject. For example, sing up the scale (a
process which many of us would make a ridiculous noise!) at the same
time twiddling your fingers on top of your head as though the fingers
were paper ribbons fluttering in the breezes. Your subject imitates
you. Rub your hands together as though they were cymbals, while you
buzz like a bee. The victim cymbalizes and buzzes. Five or six of these
hypnotizing motions, conscientiously imitated, generally have the
effect of paralyzing the audience with no further effort on your part,
while the victim begins to “feel queer already!” Just about then you
give one last intent look, one last hypnotizing motion, and tell him in
a sepulchral tone that now it will be absolutely impossible for him to
get up alone.
He experiments, putting out first one foot and then the other, and
finally stands up triumphantly and crows, “Well I guess you didn’t
hypnotize me! I stood up alone!” “Oh no you didn’t,” comes the answer,
“I got up with you. You didn’t get up alone!”
Owa Tagoo Siam!
Tell your guests that the Siamese national slogan is very intricate
and that only really intelligent people can learn it, but that you
have a way of teaching it so that even the simplest person can grasp
it immediately. Ask them to repeat what you say. “Owa!” with emphasis
on the o; “Tagoo!” with emphasis on the goo; “Siam!” Then ask them
to repeat, running all three words together. They will have to do it
over and over with much help and encouragement from you before they
appreciate the full meaning of your scornful “Well I should say you
are!”
Finally they arrive. Each one is exclaiming “Oh what a goose I am!”
Abbreviations.
Ask some dignified man to put the tip of his forefinger under his chin.
While he holds it there ask him to tell the assembled multitude the
abbreviation for quart. He will look the part when he says “Q-t,” which
you’ll all agree sounds like “Cutie.”
Later on get some other guest to point his forefinger at his head and
show how well educated he is by immediately giving the abbreviation for
mountain “M-t.” certainly sounds like “empty” though it would hardly be
right for any of the other guests to thus describe the victim’s head!
Under the Table.
Let the host make a wager with one of his men guests that he cannot get
under the dining table or some small sidetable and stay there while
his host knocks three times on the table. “Why that would take just
a second! Surely I can!” He gets under the table and his host knocks
once and twice and then knocks no more but proceeds to lead his guests
out of the room, leaving his betting friend either to pay up, or wait
indefinitely under the table for the third knock!
Impossible!
“Would you like to see something that has never been seen before and
that will never be seen again?”
“Impossible!”
Whereupon you pick up an English walnut or any kind of nut, crack it,
take out the kernel and ask if it has ever been seen before; then eat
it and ask if it will ever be seen again!
The Lost Sheep.
This is to follow some vocal selection that gained enough applause to
justify an encore. Immediately following the announcement that the
next number is to be a little ballad entitled “The Lost Sheep,” the
accompanist begins an elaborate accompaniment with an introduction that
is unusually long. At the correct moment she crashes out a loud chord
and signals to the singer to begin. The singer takes a deep breath,
holds it as long as she can, and then gives forth one heart-rending
“Baa!”, the song of the lost sheep.
The Gathering of the Nuts.
It is announced that an impromptu farce will be staged, with guests
taking the various parts. As the different guests are assigned parts
they are in turn called to the stage and told where and how to stand.
If a large group is present, from fifteen to twenty actors are used; if
a small group, all of them may take part. A list of the various rôles
has been made out, and the announcer begins calling out characters with
the name of the guest who is to take each part. The following cast is
used to good advantage:
1. Two footlights, who sit at the front of the stage, upright when the
footlights are on, but with faces to floor when off.
2. Curtain. A large man who stands at the middle back. When curtain
goes up, arms are outstretched.
3. Scenery. Two girls who stand in right and left corners at the back
of the stage with fingertips on top of their heads.
4. The Table. Two short men who, facing each other, bend over till the
tops of their heads come together forming an ideal tabletop.
5. The Davenport. Two men who kneel facing each other with hands joined
as near the floor as possible.
6. The Lamp. A tall girl with a very fixed radiant smile.
7. The Clock. A girl who moves her head from side to side, saying
automatically, “Tick, tock, tick, tock!”
8. Exits. Two people standing at each door with joined hands held high
to form a passageway.
9. The Heroine. A tall stout girl who stares dreamily at one of the
light fixtures.
10. Her Mother, who stares adoringly at her.
11. Her Father. A picture of righteous wrath.
12. The Hero. A small meek man on his knees at the feet of the heroine.
13. The Villain. Arms crossed, sneer, air of defiance. Much showing
teeth and twirling of mustache.
After they are all in their right places with instructions as to how
to look and act, footlights go on, curtain goes up, and the announcer
breaks in hurriedly, “Oh! I forgot to tell you the name of this play!
It is ‘The Gathering of the Nuts!’”, whereupon she makes a hasty exit!
The Band.
Guests are told that the object of the game is for each one to
pantomime the action of the instrument assigned him, in such a
realistic way that the others cannot help but guess what it is. Each
performer is to continue his pantomiming until the audience makes the
correct guess. The hostess then asks the first performer to step into
another room with her so that she can tell him what his instrument is,
and help him with the action of it. She assigns him something easy like
a cornet, telling him at the same time however that his part is really
a blind to keep the group from getting suspicious about any hoax.
He goes back into the room, pantomimes the action of a cornet, and
immediately the audience guesses “Cornet,” and probably thinks “Oh what
a stupid game!”
The hostess carefully picks her next performer, takes him into the
next room, and tells him his part. He is to play the accordion, and,
according to rule, is to keep it up until the audience makes a correct
guess as to his instrument. In the meantime, the man who played the
cornet is carrying out the instructions given him by his hostess, and
is telling the group that the next man will play an accordion, but that
they are all to profess great ignorance and to guess everything under
the sun but an accordion--a piano, a piccolo, drum, flute, violin,
trombone, anything but an accordion. Inevitably the impatient question
will come from the performer, “Well! What is it that I’m playing?” and
the group will sweetly answer, “The part of the goat!”
Whistle!
The group is told that a whistle will be blown behind the back of
whoever is chosen to go into the center, and that he, because of a
magic coat he has put on, has clairvoyant power and can immediately
turn around and tell who did it. If he should by some mishap make an
error, he may try again and he can without question guess who did it
the second time.
Mr. Victim goes into the center and the magic coat is put across his
shoulders. Great care must be used however so that he cannot possibly
see that the whistle, which is a very light one, is hanging on a
short cord pinned securely on the back of the coat just between the
shoulders. The sleeves are tied in front and the coat is bunched across
his back so that plenty of thickness is arranged for in order that he
may not feel the whistle as he turns around rapidly. Other guests crowd
in on him very closely so that the whistle can be reached easily and
can be blown by any one of the onlookers without the victim’s feeling
the tug.
When the leader says that all is ready, someone back of him blows an
earsplitting blast on the whistle. Immediately everyone puts his hands
behind him. Mr. Victim turns around at once and accuses the guiltiest
looking one of holding the whistle. The guilty looking party holds up
his hands and shows that he has no whistle and vows that he did not
pass it to anyone else. Only one guess as to who did it is allowed in
each case and the one accused is to hold up his hands at once, to prove
his innocence or guilt.
Sooner or later the unfortunate in the center discovers who has been
holding the whistle all the time, and that is the strategic time for
everyone to go into the other room!
The Prison Guard.
For a small group only. Make a square representing a prison on a
piece of paper, not joining the lines at the corners however. Let
“P” represent a prisoner in the center of the square. At three of
the corners let “G” represent guards. The story is that the prisoner
escaped in spite of the guards, that there was a guard at this, and
this, and this gate, pointing with your pencil to the three gates at
which are stationed guards. Ask how in the world he could have escaped.
Invariably someone answers, “Why he could have gone through this gate,”
and puts the tip of his finger on the unguarded gate. Your pencil is
resting carelessly on the paper. At the crucial moment you hold it
poised and when the answer comes and the finger points to the unguarded
gate, your pencil comes into action with a swift rap across the
knuckles as you exclaim in surprise, “Oh no! _I_ am guarding that gate!”
Magic Writing.
The magic writer sends his confederate out of the room while the group
decides on some short active verb. On his return the magician will
write out this word in magic writing, whereupon the confederate will
immediately go through the action of the verb decided upon.
That verb may be “dance.” When the confederate comes into the room the
magician must be careful to say nothing that is not connected with his
magic writing, or he will confuse his confederate. The first thing he
says is, “Don’t get excited.” He then makes a great many fantastic
motions on the floor with an umbrella, suddenly tapping hard, just
once. Then he remarks, “Now be careful,” and after a very short pause,
“Come on and try it,” and finishes with more flourishes of the umbrella
and two distinct taps. Immediately the confederate, without saying a
word, starts to dance.
It is a simple matter--when one knows how. The flourishes and the
fantastic motions mean nothing, but all conversation and the taps mean
a great deal. The first letter of each sentence gives the necessary
consonant, and the taps give the vowels. For example, the first letter
of the first sentence was “d.” Next came one tap, the first vowel “a,”
then, “n,” then “c,” and then two taps for “e” the second vowel, and
there you have “d-a-n-c-e.” The vowels come in their usual order of
course, a, e, i, o, u, with one tap for a, two taps for e, three taps
for i, etc., etc.
Discourage any other than short verbs. Imagine living through
“palpitate!”
Hee Haw!
The group is told that at a signal, each one is to imitate the call
of the animal assigned him, to see which one can do it the most
realistically and still be heard above the others. Assistants go about,
supposedly assigning the names of animals, but in reality whispering
to everyone to make no sound at all. Only one person is told to really
imitate the call of an animal. That is a victim who is to represent a
donkey. When the signal comes, he “Hee Haw’s!” at the top of his lungs,
blithely unconscious of the fact that he is alone in his efforts. That
state of bliss does not last long!
Willie.
The leader holds her left hand in front of her, fingers spread out.
With her right forefinger she traces her way along the inside of the
fingers of her left hand. To illustrate, she starts at the tip of the
thumb, comes down, and up to the tip of the forefinger, down it and up
the second finger, and so on through all the fingers. She then starts
at the thumb and does the same thing again. From the very first she has
been saying, “Willie, Willie, Willie, Willie, _little_ Willie, Willie,
Willie!” in the most pitiful tone she can muster up, and in rhythm with
her finger movements. She then quietly folds her hands and says “Now
you do it.”
It looks so simple that it isn’t even funny until two or three people
try it and make utter failures of it. Because she scowled when she
did it, they scowl, thinking that that is the trick; because she used
a pitiful tone, they use one; and they imitate her finger movements
exactly, while she criticizes them for not getting the little finger
just right. Finally someone arrives. It is the quiet folding of the
hands at the end that is all-important.
Wonderful Vision.
The leader may claim that it is a perfectly simple matter for him to
see through any amount of covering over his eyes. To test his vision,
he chooses five or six testers if the group is large, but if there
are not more than ten present they may all be included. They form a
circle around his chair, first covering up his eyes so that he cannot
possibly see. He then asks them to start moving slowly around him,
each one doing something that no one else is doing. One may hop on
one foot, another clap his hands, another do facial gymnastics, fly,
walk backwards, anything that no one else is doing, but each one
must go through some action or the thought wave is broken and the
wonderful vision impaired. One person is designated to suddenly stop
all action after a minute or two of moving around, by clapping his
hands and calling out, “Now! Exactly what is each one of us doing?” and
the leader promises on his word of honor that in spite of the heavy
covering over his eyes he can without a moment’s hesitation tell what
every last person in the moving circle was doing at that identical
moment.
The circle begins moving slowly around, each one in it going through
some definite movement, and each one wondering, probably, how in the
world the blindfolded leader will be able to tell that the Methodist
minister is wiggling his ears, and that Mrs. Newly Rich is doing an
esthetic dance. Suddenly a halt is called by the one chosen to do it.
He claps his hands briskly and says, “Now tell us what we were doing at
the moment I clapped my hands.”
The leader throws off the covering, looks intently at the group and
then says with great satisfaction, “Each one of you was making a goose
of himself!”
The Elastic Ring.
A guest with a large head is chosen as the one on whom to experiment.
The hostess holds up a lady’s ring and assures her guests that if she,
while facing this guest, holds the ring in just the right position
she can easily poke her guest’s head right through it without hurting
him in the least. It sounds incredible but her friend of the large
head stands obediently before her, she twists and turns the ring to
get just the right position, finally succeeds, and giving a sigh of
satisfaction, proceeds to poke his head through the ring by putting her
finger through the ring and poking his head!
Rabbit.
The leader shows great enthusiasm in asking her guests if they know
that “awfully funny new game ‘Rabbit.’” If a small group, all may join
in; if a large one, only a select few have the privilege. They form
a circle, kneel on the right knee, each one putting the first finger
of the right hand on the floor. When they are all set the leader asks
again as if to make sure, “Really don’t you know how to play ‘Rabbit’?”
and again they assure her that they do not.
“Neither do I,” she remarks regretfully.
Rubber!
The leader has a rubber band at the base of the first two fingers of
her left hand which is closed. She opens the hand suddenly and throws
the rubber in such a way that it jumps clear across to the base of the
third and fourth fingers of the same hand. Impossible? Not a bit, but
only clever people can do it, or at least so the guests are told.
The rubber band is put at the base of the first two fingers. All four
fingers are then folded over and the rubber is stretched a bit so that
it may cover all four tips. When the fingers are stretched out straight
it is inevitable that the rubber band jump to the base of the third and
fourth fingers.
The Unbreakable Match.
A man’s handkerchief is opened up and waved about to show how free
it is from any trickery. A match is put in the exact center of the
handkerchief which is then carefully folded up. Complete silence is
asked for in order that all may hear the leader break the match. They
listen carefully and admit that they hear the distinct crack of the
match as it is broken. The leader shakes out the handkerchief and the
match is shown, unbroken.
She repeats the performance, and each time all will admit that they
heard her break the match. There are always many theories advanced as
to how she does it--by cracking her finger-nails together, etc., etc.,
and there is always somebody who wants to see the handkerchief. Instead
of showing it, however, she shakes it freely and tells them that that
ought to satisfy anybody.
Just between us, there is a match pushed far into the hem at all four
corners. Each time she is supposed to be cracking the match in the
center of the handkerchief, she is very careful to crack one of the
corner matches instead!
Leterfly.
Leterfly and Salaam are quite evidently not for exactly formal dress
affairs! Leterfly is especially good for Poverty Parties and the like,
and is best adapted to a small group. Guests are told that one by one
they will be introduced to the Fly Family. The leader chooses four
assistants, and the rest of the guests are taken aside some place where
they cannot see the presentations. The assistants are lined up like a
receiving line as the Fly Family, and as the guests come in, one at a
time, they are presented to each member of the family. The first one
is the butterfly, next the firefly, then the dragonfly, and lastly
leterfly, who does what her name implies and lets fly about ten drops
of cold water from a thimble which she has held concealed at her side.
Salaam.
His Majesty, the King of Timbuktu, is seated on his throne at one
end of the room with a page close at hand. Four or five people have
been asked to leave the room and to come in one at a time as called,
in order to be presented to His Majesty. The first one is called in,
brought before the king, told to bow deeply before him three times,
each time saying, “I pledge allegiance to my king.” He is told too,
that the deeper his bow, the greater his favor with the king. He bows
once, then again, and then a third time. His allegiance gets a bit
chilled however during the third bow, for the page has provided the
king with a small piece of ice, which is gently but firmly applied to
the back of the neck during the third bow.
Hypnotism.
Much care is evidenced in the selecting of a subject for hypnotism.
It is hardly necessary to say that a confederate is in the group.
The hypnotist goes about touching different people’s temples to see
whether they are the right kind for hypnotism. He finally discovers
a good subject, his confederate of course. The subject is sent out
of the room while the group decides on something they want him to do
when hypnotized. Perhaps they want him to sing. He is seated on a
chair facing the audience and the hypnotist begins to rub his forehead
slowly. The movements are slow and well defined, that is, the fingers
are lifted after each move across the forehead. The subject soon loses
consciousness and as the movements continue, seems to get more and
more under the spell of the hypnotist. Finally with a shaking of his
fingers the hypnotist stops and there is absolute silence for just
a moment, in order to keep the subject under the spell. Suddenly he
begins singing in a high squeaky voice, “Wait till the Sun Shines
Nellie!”
If the subject has any relatives present they will almost surely beg
that he be taken out of his trance. The obliging hypnotist presses his
fingers twice into the temples of the subject who shudders, sighs, and
wakes up wondering what it is all about!
Frankly, it is not easy to do unless both subject and hypnotist are
very alert and wideawake. If they are, however, it is a comparatively
simple process to hypnotize a confederate into doing anything the
audience wants him to do. We assume that they want him to sing. The
hypnotist begins rubbing his forehead and carefully rubs nineteen
times, for “s,” the first letter in sing, is the nineteenth letter
of the alphabet. He carefully lifts his fingers at the end of each
movement. After the nineteenth rub he presses hard into both temples
to show that the letter is completed. Waiting just a second, he begins
again and rubs nine times for “i,” the ninth letter of the alphabet,
pressing the temples at the end. The next time he rubs fourteen times
for “n,” and the last time only seven times for “g,” at the end of
which he shakes his fingers vigorously as a signal that the word is
completed.
It will make it more interesting for all concerned if the hypnotist
asks the audience to choose verbs of three or four letters. His
explanation is that simple action is very easy to get over even to a
new subject, while long and complicated action takes practice. The
real reason is that it is fairly easy for a subject to get the words
“cry,” or “dance” or “sleep” or “jump,” while “hippity-hop” would be
almost impossible and too long drawn out to be interesting.
If a hypnotist can get a confederate who will get thoroughly into
the spirit of the thing and sigh, shudder, go into a trance, or act
completely exhausted, while the hypnotist himself makes a serious thing
out of it, a group can be completely deceived as to the genuineness of
the performance.
Eny.
This is particularly good for a table game or in any situation where
there is no room for moving around. Announce that there is a word in
the English language that ends in “eny,” pronounced like “any.” It is
necessary to put just one letter at the beginning to make it a very
common and much used word. Suggest that they begin with “a” putting
every letter of the alphabet in turn before “eny” till the proper
letter is found. The usual process is this: “A-eny, b-eny, c-eny,
d-eny, f-eny, g-eny, h-eny,” and so on through the entire alphabet
until an impatient “Why there isn’t a single letter that will do it,”
calls forth your positive assurance that there is a letter that will do
it.
If they simply cannot get it, ask them to change the accent. Finally
they will arrive. “D-eny” is a perfectly good word.
“T.”
Guests are sitting about informally when the hostess turns to her
right-hand neighbor, Mrs. Brown, and says, “I simply can’t abide ‘t’
but I like onions. What do you like, Mrs. Brown?” and Mrs. Brown, who
knows the game, answers, “I don’t like ‘t’ but I like cabbage,” and
turns to the next one who is in the dark as to what they are talking
about, and asks her what she likes. She replies, “Well, I don’t
like tea but I love soda water,” but laughter greets her and she is
told that she certainly cannot join their secret organization. Her
right-hand neighbor then tells what she likes, and so it goes around
the circle, all the uninitiated trying valiantly to get in on this
secret understanding that seems to be so funny. Before it has gone
around the circle once, however, someone gets it. She is not allowed to
tell, but when her turn comes in the second round she gives evidence as
to whether she is right or not. She might say perhaps, “I don’t like
‘t’ but I do like pickles!” and she is declared an initiated member.
It is very simple. If you wish to belong to the “Anti-T” band your
taste must run to food that has no “t” in it, like pickles, soup, etc.,
etc. but not like potatoes, turnips or ketchup!
Self Praise.
The hostess makes a remark to the effect that “This group is mighty
good-looking,” accompanying the remark with a very prim, set smile, and
then asks the one at her right to repeat it exactly as she gave it. The
neighbor gives what she considers an exact duplication of the remark
and the smile, but she is told that she isn’t even warm, so the next
one tries it and so it goes around the circle, with some of them utter
failures and others very successful. This continues until most of them
have arrived.
Many of them put the greatest emphasis on the smile, thinking that
that is the important factor, which of course is just exactly what
you wanted them to think, for half the fun of the game is caused by
the utterly hopeless smiles that are forthcoming. The successful ones
however have noticed that each time before you made a remark you
cleared your throat. Easy, isn’t it, when you know how?
No Fair!
Two of the men are blindfolded and are asked to sit in the middle
of the circle on the floor, facing each other with knees touching.
Each one is given a swatter, made of newspapers folded together. At a
signal, the smaller one of the two is told to call out to the other
“Where are you?” and the big one is to answer “Right here,” and then
without moving his knees he may dodge in any way he can to avoid the
sweep of the swatter that his opponent aims in the direction of the
“Right here.” He may be successful in his dodging, but then again,
he may not, and he gets a “swat” that calls for revenge, so he takes
his turn, and calls out, “Where are you?”, and the small one answers,
“Right here” and immediately dodges as best he can the avenging swatter
that is swatting in his direction. They take turns at this for a few
moments and then the small one, to whom the leader has whispered a few
words when he was blindfolding him, slips down the blindfolder and gets
in several good dodges and several good swats before his opponent gets
suspicious that all is not well!
Mr. Bumps.
The leader invites her guests to watch very closely the ceremony she
will go through in honor of her friend Mr. Bumps, and tells them that
an opportunity will be given to imitate the ceremony.
She sits at a table with a glass of water before her and with all
simplicity begins her ceremony. Holding the glass between the thumb
and forefinger of her right hand she takes a sip of water and says, “I
drink to Mr. Bumps,” puts the glass down, taps on top of the table with
her right forefinger, does the same with her left forefinger, repeats
the finger tapping performance under the edge of the table, taps the
floor with her right foot, then her left foot, and finally, bows her
head once.
The second part of the ceremony is exactly like the first except that
everything is done twice and the glass is held between the thumb and
two fingers instead of just one finger. Two drinks are taken; the
toast, “I drink to Mr. Bumps twice,” is given; the right forefinger and
the left forefinger tap twice on top of the table and twice under the
edge of the table; the right foot and then the left foot tap on the
floor; and the head is bowed twice.
The third and last part of the ceremony too is just like the first,
except that everything is done three times, and the glass is held
between the thumb and three fingers, and the toast is, “I drink to Mr.
Bumps for the third and last time.”
A cordial invitation to do likewise is then issued. While the
explanation as given here may sound rather complicated, the performance
really looks extremely simple, and in the average group there will be
several who are sure they can do it. I have never yet seen a person do
it absolutely correctly with the first effort, and it usually takes
several efforts to master this apparently very simple procedure. Every
applicant is given just one chance in the first round and at his first
mistake he is supplanted by a new applicant. When they have all been
given a chance (and incidentally all have failed) they are all urged
to try again and each successive time it becomes easier but only one
mistake is allowed in each trial.
You may look skeptical at the statement that real head-work is
essential. My only answer is, “Try it!”
I Hypnotize You!
If the group is large, some five or six guests are asked to sit in a
circle in front of the audience. If there are not more than ten guests
present, let them all form a circle, seated, with a person who will
make a good victim next to the leader. A good victim is not always
only a good sport. He is inevitably that, but in addition, a leader
who chooses her subjects wisely will choose one who will not readily
see the hoax. In this case the victim is entirely unconscious of the
important part he is to play.
The leader tells the group that certain very simple movements of the
hands across the forehead of a subject can hypnotize that subject in
almost no time, and without actually hypnotizing her subject she will
demonstrate on her neighbor, so that they may all see the principle of
the thing and practice on their neighbors before the real hypnotizing
begins. Subjects in each case should be right-hand neighbors. Assuring
her right-hand neighbor in all seriousness that she is only going
through the motions of hypnotizing, without really accomplishing
anything, she begins demonstrating on him. Her hands are lying folded
in her lap. Her first request is very important, but she is very
casual as she asks her victim to close his eyes, as she wishes to
make certain movements over the closed eyes. As soon as his eyes are
closed she makes several soft, gentle movements directly around and
over his eyes, making much of the point that she is only demonstrating
and not actually hypnotizing. When she has done the thing to her own
satisfaction, she folds her hands again and tells him to open his eyes,
while he, together with the rest of the group, is to practice these
movements preparatory to some actual hypnotizing.
Mr. Victim cannot understand the very unreasonable mirth of the other
members of the circle, who have all they can do to keep upright as they
make a pretense of practicing on each other. He finally gets suspicious
however, and goes to a mirror. What he sees there leaves no doubt in
his mind as to what they were finding so extremely funny!
The leader’s hands, which were folded so innocently in her lap, had
previously been generously coated with lampblack, all of which had
transferred itself to his face!
Magic Photography.
This is for a small group of guests who know each other fairly well.
The photographer boasts that he can take an impression of a person’s
face on the back of a spoon, and make it so real that another person
who has been out of the room can almost immediately tell whose picture
was taken.
In the face of the scoffing, he sends someone (of course his
confederate) out of the room, and sets about taking the picture of one
of the guests on the back of a spoon. He rubs the spoon over the entire
face, pressing into the depressions at either side of the nose and
being sure to get the mold of the chin. He then calls in the one who
was out of the room, shows him the spoon and asks, “What beauty is it?”
At once comes the answer, “Winona Beal,” and he is right. He goes out
again and when he has been called in the second time, the photographer
says, showing him the spoon, “Go ahead!” and the answer is, “It is
Gertrude Addams,” and again he is right.
The solution is this: The first two words of the photographer’s
statement have as their first letters the initials of the one
photographed. “What beauty is it?” gave the initials “W” and “B” and
“Go ahead” gave “G” and “A.”
In games of this kind, instead of endeavoring to find out the trick
used, there is the inevitable someone who says, “Let me go out.” It has
proved wise to let one of these inevitables go out of the room, telling
him when he comes back that you are not sure that he will be quick
enough to get the resemblance on the spoon, thereby putting the burden
of proof on him. Sure enough, he fails, and almost always your group
will ask that the one who was first sent out of the room be sent again,
for no trick that does not work is interesting.
It is another matter when someone thinks he has discovered your trick.
Instead of telling the group what he thinks it is, you ask him to leave
the room in place of your confederate and when he gets back and tells
correctly whose picture is on the spoon, it is much to the delight of
the crowd. As each one of them discovers the trick and is allowed to
try out his discovery, one by one they guess it, and nothing puts a
crowd into a better humor than to have guessed a trick which looked
hard!
The Pain.
There may in this very large world still be one or even two people
who have not heard of the way to hypnotize a person so that he will
inevitably feel a pain (pane). The hypnotist makes several passes
before the eyes of the subject, stares at him fixedly, presses his
hands on the temple of the subject, leads him to a window, raps his
hand very lightly on the glass, holds his fingers there, and then
inquires solicitously, and yet triumphantly, “You feel a pane now,
don’t you?”
The subject, who feels absolutely no discomfort or pain, says so
freely, but he is corrected by the hypnotist who assures him that he
certainly is feeling pane!
Teapot.
This game centers about words that have two meanings like “can.” It is
used to best advantage with a small informal group. The leader starts
it by saying “I teapot teapot peaches when I teapot get them,” and
the neighbor to her right is to take up the conversation if she can
think of the word in the place of which teapot was used. She guesses
correctly so she says, “Most teapots are made of tin, but I teapot
show you a teapot made of glass.” Her right-hand neighbor has not the
slightest inkling of what word they are thinking about, so she is
obliged to pass, and so it goes around the circle, anyone who passes
being obliged to pay a forfeit. When each one has had a turn and it
comes back to the leader she tells what word she had in mind, “can.”
Then she starts another one, this one perhaps, “see,” and as before,
she omits the word “see” and uses “teapot” instead. For example, “I did
teapot the teapot when a fearful storm was up, and I am sure that I
shall never again teapot such a raging teapot.”
Sometimes the leader will call upon someone else to start a new word,
and in each case, anyone who is unable to “catch on” pays a forfeit.
Magic Numbers.
Children love easy trick games which they may try out on each other.
One of the easiest and simplest of these is one in which someone, a
confederate of course, is sent out of the room while the others decide
on some number under ten. Perhaps they decide on six. The outsider is
called in and the leader remarks to him, “Fire Away,” and immediately
he says, “You decided on six.”
The next time when they chose four for their number, the leader said to
his confederate, “Do you think you can get it from looking at me?” and
of course the confederate said, “Easily. It is four.”
The first letter of any remark the leader makes tells the confederate
what number has been decided upon. In “Fire away,” the first letter was
“f,” which is the sixth letter of the alphabet. Therefore, six was the
number chosen. In “Do you think” etc., etc., “d,” the fourth letter of
the alphabet, gives the number four.
Red, White and Blue.
This is one of the most irritating and fascinating puzzles ever put to
an informal group. While the confederate is out of the room the leader
asks the guests to decide on any object in the room. The confederate
is called in and after naming several wrong articles in the room,
asking each time if that is the one chosen, the leader names the right
one and instantly the answer is made, “That is the thing you chose.”
Immediately someone says, “Oh, it is just like ‘Black Magic’ except
that you name a red object just before the right one.”
The leader smiles and answers, “All right. Just watch this next time,”
and next time the right object certainly was not preceded by an object
that was red, nor was it the next time. As it happened, however, when
the leader pointed out wrong objects and finally the right one the
_next_ time, the right one was preceded by something red and every last
guest noticed it and spoke of it, but they could not say that the trick
was that the right object was always preceded by something red, for
that was not true.
The system used is indeed very much like “Black Magic” in which the
object decided upon is always preceded by an object that is black, but
in this case the right object is preceded by objects that are red,
white and blue, in turn. The first time it follows a red object, next a
white one, and then a blue one. Then the series begins all over again,
first a red object to precede it, then a white one, and then a blue
one and so on till finally some bright mind recognizes the familiar
combination!