Arms Scene

This game is based on the old visual gag where one person stands behind another and provides the player’s arms.

The Talker player stands with his hands behind his back, while the Arms player stands behind, with his arms pushed forward between the Talker’s elbow and torso. This creates the illusion that the arms belong to the body. It works best if players are similar heights. Matching clothing will also improve the effect. If that’s not possible, the Arms can pull shirt sleeves back to give a short-sleeved look. Face forward as much as possible. If you need to move, shuffle sideways.

Players will be in close physical contact (each player will have their hands near the other player’s chest) so make sure everyone is comfortable with that.

Walking around is difficult, so set up a scene where an “arms” character plays againust a normal character, who can move more freely. A first date is a good scenario.

The stock advice is that players should give and take the lead, but in practice this often ends up with the scene being controlled by the Talker, while the Arms provide a physical accompaniment, which turns the game into a mere sight-gag.

The scene becomes more interesting and enjoyable if each line starts with a clear and specific movement by the Arms, which the Talker tries to justify.

CINDY: This is a lovely restaurant.

Jim’s “arms,” provided by Dave, point upwards in different directions. Jim notes the movement and provides suitable dialogue.

JIM: Yes, and the drone cameras will capture every moment of our date.

The Arms player can get more variety by choosing different emotions for each response. If the Talker is up for a bigger challenge, the Arms can choose random activities and see if the Talker can justify them. (If you’re playing Arms and have a hard time thinking of unrelated activities, try going through the alphabet: A… Archery, B… Baking bread, Cutting, Driving, Exercise, Frying an egg…)

This is not a good game for audience volunteers. When audience members provide the arm movements, their choices are likely to be vague or repetitive and the scene will become talk-heavy.

One common gag is to pull a (real) object from a pocket and use it in the scene. It can be funny, but don’t overdo it. If the game leans on this, it is missing the point.

Another joke is for the Arms player touch the Talker’s face or other body parts. How far you take this obviously depends on the kind of audience you’re playing to and the degree of comfort between the the players.

The game is also known as “Helping Hands.”