Sunday, August 25, 2002
Theater Games
So here I am, with a master's degree in theater, and it takes Esalen and the genius of my son-in-law Tom to remind me about what started me out in games in the first place! And here just so happens to be a remarkable collection of these very same games, cross-categorized, even.
For example, from the Warm-Up category, the infamous game of Bunny.
"Extremely silly game, to pump up the energy. Get everyone in a circle. One player becomes the body of a bunny - this is done by holding both arms in front of your chest, elbows touching your rib cage, and letting hands hang. Her 2 neighbors become the 'ears' of the bunny, by waving a hand next to the middle player's ears. All 3 say 'bunny bunny bunny' together, until the middle player 'throws' a 'bunny' to another player in the circle. This player becomes the bunny body, and his neighbors get to do the ears.
"Play this game at a high speed. Mumbling 'bunny bunny' en masse gives a nice energy boost.
"Variations
"Play in slow motion. Hilarious! Alternatively, you can really invent any object or create or replace the bunny, as long as you invent a sound along with it. Try a car, with 2 wheels and a set of wind screen wipers, going 'vroom vroom', a cow, with an udder and 2 horns, going 'moo moo', a washing machine, with 2 players building a 'box' with both arms, and the middle player waving her arms in a circle in front of her. All go 'rumble rumble', an elephant, with 2 big ears and a trunk, making an elephant sound (if you don't know what an elephant sounds like, just invent a sound).
"See also Bippety Bop . See also Killer Bunny."
We played yet another variation of this game at Esalen last week in which we had not only an elephant, but also a biplane (person in the middle makes goggles out of her fingers, people on either side make wings) and The Spirit of 76 (you know: flag, fife, drum)
Some of the games are very theater - they require an audience or focus heavily on acting skills, but there are more than enough games here to make this a significant find for any Fun Community.
For example, from the Warm-Up category, the infamous game of Bunny.
"Extremely silly game, to pump up the energy. Get everyone in a circle. One player becomes the body of a bunny - this is done by holding both arms in front of your chest, elbows touching your rib cage, and letting hands hang. Her 2 neighbors become the 'ears' of the bunny, by waving a hand next to the middle player's ears. All 3 say 'bunny bunny bunny' together, until the middle player 'throws' a 'bunny' to another player in the circle. This player becomes the bunny body, and his neighbors get to do the ears.
"Play this game at a high speed. Mumbling 'bunny bunny' en masse gives a nice energy boost.
"Variations
"Play in slow motion. Hilarious! Alternatively, you can really invent any object or create or replace the bunny, as long as you invent a sound along with it. Try a car, with 2 wheels and a set of wind screen wipers, going 'vroom vroom', a cow, with an udder and 2 horns, going 'moo moo', a washing machine, with 2 players building a 'box' with both arms, and the middle player waving her arms in a circle in front of her. All go 'rumble rumble', an elephant, with 2 big ears and a trunk, making an elephant sound (if you don't know what an elephant sounds like, just invent a sound).
"See also Bippety Bop . See also Killer Bunny."
We played yet another variation of this game at Esalen last week in which we had not only an elephant, but also a biplane (person in the middle makes goggles out of her fingers, people on either side make wings) and The Spirit of 76 (you know: flag, fife, drum)
Some of the games are very theater - they require an audience or focus heavily on acting skills, but there are more than enough games here to make this a significant find for any Fun Community.
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