Three Activities

This is a fun, high-energy game. Begin by sending the guesser from the room and asking for three common activities from the audience. Explain that this will be a guessing game, and that they should clap if the guesser performs the correct activities.

Jen looks in an imaginary mirror and applies makeup as Bob enters the room. The first activity is “brush teeth”.

Bob runs in.

BOB: Let me give you a hand. I’ll use the hairdryer.

As he says it, Bob mimes using a hairdryer on her hair.

Bob starts guessing the moment he enters, which is good. Each guess involves performing an action. Adding a simultaneous explanation can make things clearer – but don’t announce the action then wait for an audience response. Assume your guess is right and immediately perform the action with confidence. If you’re wrong, you’ll be confidently wrong, which is funny.

Putting emphasis on the key words can make it more clear that this is a guess – it lets the audience know they should respond if the guess is correct.

Jen accepts Bob’s offer of a hairdryer and uses it to move the guesses forward. She quickly uses the hairdryer on her hair.

JEN: That’s great, thanks. I’m ready for our evening out, honey… Oh!

She recoils at his apparently bad breath. Bob picks up on it and mimes opening a bottle.

BOB: Sorry, is it my breath. I was just eating a garlic and onion sandwich.

Bob unscrews a bottle

BOB: I’ll use this mouthwash.

He gargles.

JEN: That certainly makes your breath smell better, but I think you have some onion skin stuck between your teeth…

BOB: You’re right, I’ll use dental floss…

JEN: No, you still…

BOB: And brush my teeth!

He immediately starts brushing his teeth. The audience applauds.

The clue-giver should always accept and react to the guesser’s comments and try to make sense of them. Use each guess as a jumping-off point for the next activity.

Be careful the game doesn’t degenerate into a Twenty Questions style of exercise,.

BOB: I’ll load this rifle.

JEN: No, not a rifle. Something shorter.

BOB: A pistol?

JEN: N-n-nope. Something you throw.

BOB: Spear, javelin…?

JEN: Not quite. More of a curved shape… from Australia… that rhymes with ‘zoomerang’.”

This is painful to watch.

Instead, (assuming the activity should be “throw a boomerang”), the clue-giver should accept each suggestion and try to steer it towards the activity.

BOB: I’ll load this rifle.

He loads a rifle.

JEN: It seems so wrong to hunt kangaroos with a rifle.

If that doesn’t get an immediate reaction, it might progress to “Here, try throwing this stick at them. Oh no! I’ve bent it…”

The game works well if the guesser remains extremely positive and enthusiastic.

Don’t get stuck for too long on one clue. If the guesser isn’t getting it, the clue-giver can just reveal the answer and move on.

A time limit on each activity can prevent the game from getting bogged down. (Time limits are useful on most guessing games.) Assign a player who can call time on each activity, and reset the clock when a successful guess is made. If time runs out, simply tell the guesser what they were supposed to be doing, and move on to the next activity.