Boom Chicago Academy: Level 4 Short Form

Session 5: Elimination Games & Line Games (session 1 of 2)

Coach: Katie Nixon

Students: Daan, Joshua, Susan, Fabs, Pedro, Mareika, Brian, Bart, Jonathan, Vaiva, Nicholas

Warmup

Stretch And Share

As before

Word Association Rally

The players stand in a circle. The first player tosses an imaginary ball to another player, at the same time as saying any word at all. The receiver tosses the ball to another player saying the first word that comes into their head by association. Keep tossing the ball around. Try to increase the speed.

Space Walk

As before

Mind Meld

As before

The Games

Left Hand Larry

This game centers around naming things in a category. The players (we played with 6, but that's not a hard necessity) line up across the stage. A suggestion of a category of things is generated. The host positions themselves infront of the players and points to one at a time. The player must name something in the category that hasn't been named yet. If they hesitate too long, if they name something that has already been named, or if they say something that isn't in the category they lose a life and a new category is started. When a player loses their first life they must raise their right hand. When the player loses their second life they raise their left hand and are out. In our play, the host led the audience in a "they're [clap, clap] outta here!"

Notes for performing the game:

• It is encouraged for the players to fight their case with the judge, but should only be done with absolute commitment. I also think that there is a risk of overwhelming the game with petty complaints, so players should probably be judicious.
• It is more entertaining to watch this game when the players are taking it seriously.
• I find it adds energy to proceedings if players adopt a heightened approach to the competition.
• The host is the judge here, so there's a lot of burden on their shoulders. They should know enough about the category to recognize correct answers (there's no value in taking the category olympic rowers if the judge doesn't know any).
• As the game progresses the categories can become more abstract and subjective, allowing the host to play the capricious arbiter and to eject players in a timely manner. Categories of this nature can be things like, "things I like" or "dog's names".

Questions

In this game we play a scene, but everything said must be a question. Take a suggestion for a location where the scene will be played out. The first two players move to center stage and begin a dialogue heavy scene, but everything they say must be a question. If a player says something that isn't a question, or takes too long to speak, or if the question they ask is really a statement they are eliminated. Additional rules can be included that prevent players from repeating questions. Once a player is eliminated, another comes forward to take their place and the scene continues.

In class we played this as a team game with teams of 3. Teammates wait upstage left and upstage right. Once everyone from one team is eliminated, the other is declared the winner.

It can also be played as a winner-stays-on run, which is useful if you want to ensure everyone plays, or if one person is particularly good at the game.

Notes for performing the game:

• It's hard to keep the questions going if you stay in a transactional conversation. leaning into good scenework: relationships, environment, emotions, etc. can be very fruitful. It also helps create a rich and engaging scene.
• The host can get harsher or more lenient with their judgement to control the progression of the game.

Challenge

The players form a backline. The host asks the audience for a subject on which the players are going to talk for 90 seconds. The first player steps forward center stage and begins to give a lecture on the particular subject. At any point, a player from the backline may challenge the current speaker by raising their hand and calling "Challenge!". The speaker stops speaking, the clock stops, and the host hears the challenge. The host can reject the challenge, in which case the speaker resumes their discourse, or they can agree with the challenge, in which case they will ask the challenger to continue in place of the previous speaker. The "winner" is the person left speaking at the end of the 90 seconds. Challenges can be raised on any pretext; the most grounded challenges are that the speaker has said something incorrect, or that they have wandered off the topic, but can also be something capricious like, "I'm tired of hearing a man talk".

Notes for performing the game:

• The 90 seconds are nominal really, time can flow faster or slower if the host likes.
• Challenges should be snappy. Not long arguments.
• Don't argue with the judge on this one. I think because it bogs the game down.
• One way of soliciting subjects is to ask if anyone in the audience has a PhD and what it is in.
• Choosing a good subject is kind of important. Nonsense subjects are very difficult to work with; subjects where there is little to no popular knowledge are also difficult to work with. Ideal subjects are ones that most people have a little knowledge in, but very few people are experts: things like cookery, biology, electricity, Quentin Tarantino. The host can broaden a very narrow suggestion to its subject area so that Thelonious Monk becomes Jazz Music, for example.
• The first player should be allowed to speak long enough to get some information out before the first challenge. This establishes a baseline.
• It's better if the earlier challenges are more sensible. The challenges can include more absurd and subjective complaints as the game continues.
• It's good to remember that playing the game straight isn't really enough to be entertaining, you do need to cheat it a bit. That said, if you cheat it too much it becomes obvious that it's just a performance and loses audience engagement.
• Here are some tips related to the above:
• If the audience has to listen to someone talking sensibly for a long time it can get quite boring.
• Challenge whenever the time seems right for an interruption, not just when you have something legitimate to say. If a speaker has been going for a while, challenge. If a speaker is beginning to flounder, challenge.
• Keep listening closely and make any legitimate challenges that the audience might have spotted.

Duh Doo Rap Rap

Essentially this is the same game as 'Duh doo ron ron', but with no music or singing, just talking in rhythm. It's less entertaining, but can be less intimidating for players who aren't comfortable with musical improv.

A single syllable name is generated. It needn't be male, though in The Ronettes song it is. Something like "Joe", "Beth", "Will", or "Liz" will do nicely. The players stand in a line across the stage and in turn speak a rhyming verse in the form:

I met him on a _Monday_ and his name was _Phil_.
Duh doo rap rap rap,
Duh doo rap rap.

He took me to The Ivy, and he got the bill.
Duh doo rap rap rap,
Duh doo rap rap.

Say what?!
And when my wine did spill
Say what?!
He was really chill
Say what?!
He put me in his will
Duh doo rap rap rap,
Duh doo rap rap.

I left my key out for him on the window sill
Duh doo rap rap rap,
Duh doo rap rap.

But when he came into my house he was violently ill
Duh doo rap rap rap,
Duh doo rap rap.

Say what?!
I was on the pill
Say what?!
Better than a foetus kill
Say what?!
Whales feed on crill
Duh doo rap rap rap,
Duh doo rap rap.

...

Obviously, the name at the top of the rhyme should be the generated name, and all the lines other than "Duh doo rap rap rap", "Duh doo rap rap", and "Say what?!" should be made up by the speaking player. All players join in with the "Duh doo rap rap rap", "Duh doo rap rap", and "Say what?!" lines, so that only the improvised lines are solo.

If a player fails to come up with a rhyme, or if they repeat a rhyme, the host calls them out and they are eliminated. The game resumes with the remaining players. A new name is generated and the next player starts the rhyme at the beginning with the new name.

The last player left is declared the winner.

Notes for performing the game:

• For a classroom setting, this game can also be played in a circle, and can just be an exercise rather than an elimination game.
• As soon as the name is generated start cycling through all the rhymes you can think of in your head.
• It's nice if the improvised line "yes, and"s the preceding lines, but it becomes almost impossible to keep that up as rhymes get burned off.
• The weekday needn't be Monday. It can be any weekday you like.

Sex With Me

This is a line game and is usually played as an all-play. The players form a backline and a suggestion of a thing is generated from the audience. One player walks to center stage and gives an explanation of how sex with them is like the thing. This is always in the form "Sex with me is like the thing: witticism explaining how so". So for the suggestion of pineapple you might get "Sex with me is like a pineapple: juicy", or "Sex with me is like a pineapple: not really worth the effort". Once the player delivers their line, they step back to the backline and another player steps up.

Once one suggestion has been exhausted, the host should take another to keep the game alive.

Notes for performing the game:

• This game can also be played as "Dating Me", which can be useful when any of the players are uncomfortable with sexual content, or when it is inappropriate for the audience or the tone of the show.
• As soon as the suggestion is generated start thinking of all the different associations you can pull from. (Note that this advice may go against my own thinking [see below]. Is it maybe more fruitful to think about all the ways of describing the object)?
• The first player should get out there straight away and buy the rest some thinking time. They should bring the most obvious, corny, formulaic joke, or something silly that may or may not make much sense.
• Ideally that first person up should say the thing that the whole audience is already thinking; the most obvious joke.
• Get out there as soon as you have even half an idea. You can formulate and find the joke as you go.
• It's okay to fail.
• Jokes get burned in this game. If you go out there and do the same joke that someone else has done it's likely to fall flat. Maybe other players can rescue it by absurdly repeating the repetition.
• Since jokes get burned in line games, try not to burn jokes unnecessarily. Only combine multiple aspects of the subject if you're really sure of the joke.
• I personally question whether this game falls flat when the jokes being made don't use the suggestion in the form of a simile. So, for example: "sex with me is like a book: I'll leave you covered" doesn't make sense as a simile; it's just a vague word association. Books don't leave anyone or anything covered. A joke like, "Sex with me is like a book: all the interesting action happens between the covers" is a little better, even though it doesn't really say anything about what "sex with me" is like.
• Lean into character to sell the joke. What kind of person would the "me" be if they are describing sex with them like that?
• Use action to sell the joke and make any pun obvious.
• You don't need to play the game straight. You can give the audience a bit of sass to fight for a joke you think makes sense.
• If a player delivers a killer line, the host will usually move on to the next suggestion.

World's Worst

Another game that is usually an all-play, and has the same backline format as Sex With Me. In this game, the players act out one-line demonstrations the "world's worst" of various occupations.

The players form a backline and a suggestion of an occupation is solicited from the audience. The host asks the players to show us the world's worst of the suggestion. So if the suggestion were dentist, the host would say something like "Let's see the world's worst dentist". The first player immediately steps forward and for one line (so very briefly) plays the world's worst accountant. It could be a dentist that gives one huff of laughing gas to the patient then takes one for themself, for example. Just a simple little idea played out. Once they have delivered their idea, they fall back to the line and another player steps forward.

Notes for performing the game:

• A lot of the advice for Sex With Me also applies to World's Worst, and the host's role is essentially the same, soliciting new suggestions when the old one is nearly exhausted.
• Make sure you show, don't tell. Use your scenework. It's tricky to get these ideas into a one line interaction, but that's what the game is.
• No need to go too dark.

CSI

Another game that is usually and all-play and that has the same backline format as Sex With Me. This one is inspired by the cold open format from the TV show CSI:Miami youtube, and is about delivering puns.

The players form a backline and a suggestion of an everyday object is solicited from the audience. The setup is that someone has been found killed by this object and the police detective is seeing the body for the first time. They deliver a pun, putting a pair of sunglasses on just before hitting the joke. So if the victim had been killed with a banana they might walk forward, unzip a body bag, wince in disgust and say "that's not very [sunglasses on] appealing".

If the performance space has a sound system, the pun can be followed by the opening yell of the CSI:Miami theme (which is 'Won't Get Fooled Again' by the Who).

Notes for performing the game:

• Again, a lot of advice from Sex With Me applies equally to all of the line games that share this format, with the host playing the same role, so have a look there.
• Deliver the joke with absolute conviction. Even if you know it's weak.
• Take your time on the set up. Getting the moment grounded can help give even a weak pun some impact.

Last Action Phrase

Same format as the above. This time the idea is to deliver an action hero style quip after killing an enemy.

The players form a backline and a suggestion of an everyday household object is solicited. The first player comes center stage, and mocks the last moments of killing an enemy with that object. As they stand over the body they deliver a quip related to that object. For a reference point see this youtube clip from a James Bond film.

Notes for performing the game:

• We found that this is not a good game.
• If you actually play out the action every time it can get stodgily killy. If you have to play this game every player after the first should probably give as little time to the killing action as possible.

Notes

None