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Comedy: September 04, 2024 Issue [#12722]




 This week: The Games People Play
  Edited by: Lornda Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

Why did the music teacher bring a ladder to the party?

Because they wanted to reach the high notes!


What do you call a dancing bee?

The "buzz" of the party!


What's a cat's favorite party game?

Mouse-ical chairs!



Sometimes, the rules of the game have to be changed to protect the innocent.



Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor

         A long time ago when I was six, I can remember when my grandmother had the whole family over for dinner. Afterwards, we gathered in her basement to play a new party game. By the time we were done, I had tears ready to burst out of my eyeballs.

         What kind of party game would make a little kid almost cry? It took many years to figure out the name of the game, and the other problem was, we kept on playing it year after year. It got to the point where I didn’t want to visit grammy anymore.

         My parents carried the game tradition at get togethers throughout my childhood. They stuck to the classic games. One was Musical Chairs until it turned violent – that was my brother’s fault. Of course, I couldn’t let the only boy in the family win. My foot somehow stretched out when he ran in front of me and somehow, he tripped and missed the chair.

         After my winning experience was exposed, we moved on to Pin the Tail on the Donkey. What a concept for a game. Give a kid a long sharp object, spin them around so many times that they almost fall, or walk into walls. What fun! From my experience, though, I had no idea how a paper donkey’s tail became pinned to my sister’s head or my brother’s arm. It was another game I was banished from ever playing again.

         When we had kids of our own, we wanted to play a game at a family reunion. Preferably, nothing that would involve crying from the kids. It was at this time, that my sister remembered the questionable game we played at our grandmother’s place. After much discussion about her choice, we decided to play grammy’s game but with our own rules. We remembered the basics and asked my dad to fill in the blanks. His answer sounded familiar. “Oh, that game. I didn’t like playing it. I blocked it out.” Great. I guess family members who dislike traditional games together, stay together.

         At that time, the internet was sketchy on information of any kind. Even Martha Stewart’s party time tab was clueless. A trip to the library garnished us a book of party games. It looked like it was written in the 1800’s. The game is basically a gift exchange type of deal. For some reason, the way my grandmother played it, though, someone was always left in a corner sobbing without a gift.

         There now exists a couple of versions of the game on the internet. We tweaked it by using the two deck of cards method so that everyone wins a prize or two. If you’re interested, here’s how our no tears version is played:

*Cards* The number of players is up to you. It can be small or large. We usually play it at reunions.

*Giftw* Tell each guest to bring two wrapped gifts. Set a price. We limit it to between five to ten dollars. Gag gifts are fun but so are some nice ones.

*Cards* You’ll need two standard decks of cards. Jokers removed.

*Giftw* All gifts are placed together in one pile on a table, on the floor, or in cardboard boxes.

*People* Count how many people you have and divide that number into 52. This will give you the number of cards each person receives. If you have leftover cards, feel free to give an extra one to the younger ones of the crowd or the guest(s) of honor.

*Suitclub* One person is chosen to call out the cards with the other deck, usually the host of the party. This person will either pass the boxes of gifts around for the players to choose two, or each person can pick from the pile on a table or the floor. It’s best if each person grabs two gifts individually to dispense from any riots.

*Suitspade* The host shuffles the second deck of cards and picks a card. They call it out. The person with the matching card will exchange one of their gifts with someone else.

*Giftw* This is repeated until all the host’s cards have been called. Everyone will still be in possession of two gifts.

*Giftw* We make sure there are gifts for kids so that they can be exchanged at the end, but have fun with that, because most of them do not want to trade any gifts at all. I always wondered what my nephews were going to do with gardening gloves and Lilly of the Valley hand cream.


         We play it at any celebration and never get tired of the laughs of everyone running around. The fun part is that there’s always the one gift everyone wants, and the trading that goes on is hilarious. Most times, when the gift is finally unwrapped, it’s either something like Spiderman toothpaste, an ugly mini stuffed squirrel, or a roll of toilet paper.

         I did try a new party game a few years ago but only once. It’s called, The Plastic Wrap Ball. You place little gems like wrapped candy, folded money, and gift cards, and keep rolling and placing the goodies until you have a huge ball of wrap the size of your head. Set a timer to 25 seconds. Each player tries their best to unwrap as much as the plastic wrap, grabbing all the goodies they can in that time. It’s then passed on to the next person beside them. Like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, an injury occurred. Give plenty of room between each person to be safe from flying elbows.

         Use caution when playing all party games. Our family is sticking to our traditional game. There’s less injuries and no bawling from the little kids!


A sig for the best genre in the world--Comedy!



Editor's Picks

These items were under the search words of: Games and Parties! Woo hoo! *Die5* *Partyhatb* *Giftw*


 
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*Die4* *Dartbl* *Tickets* Try out some WDC games!

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some anagram-style fun, words within words
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Ask & Answer

*Questiong* This week's question: What’s your favorite party game? Any traditions when it comes to playing games at your parties, and any fun memories?

*Thought2* Feedback from my last newsletter, "Funny TV Shows and Sub GenresOpen in new Window.. I asked the question:

Which TV show, past or present, makes you laugh? Who’s your favorite funny character?


Write_Mikey_Write! Author Icon : "I've seen most of the Monk, but I must have missed the one with the lepers. I got an immediate connection to Friends, though, when he asked Natalie which phone the call had come in on and then threw the infected instrument in the trash (appropriately wrapped in paper towels, of course). The connection was to the episode with Joey's new apartment, which featured a phone in the bathroom. Upon seeing this, Monica told him to NEVER call her from that phone." *Rolling*

Lol! Monk is one of my all-time favorite comedies. It's one of those shows you can watch over again and laugh at something else you missed a long the way. *Bigsmile*

*Tower* Comments from the Newsfeed. Thanks!

s Author Icon : "Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974) (the TV series; I have it on DVD) still makes me laugh. - Old episodes of The Paul Hogan Show (1973-1984) shows how funny he really could be. - The D-Generation (1986-1989) is still good for a laugh, though some jokes are very much "of their time". - Australia You're Standing In It (1983-1984) is a classic. - And slightly later, another one I own on DVD, The Weird Al Show (1997) is always good for a laugh. - And to go black and white The Mavis Bramston Show (1964-1968) which, while before my time, I saw on repeats."

Zeke Author Icon : "Modern Family & Tim Conway"

Nixie🦊 Author Icon : "Hands down, Schitts Creek. David is my favourite character."

AliceLvs2Write Author Icon : "Seinfeld - Newman!"

Jay O'Toole Author Icon : "Gilligan’s Island was always a great one for me. Gilligan could get himself into some hilarious situations.
Carol Burnette’s comedy sketch, Went with the Wind, is an all-time favorite as is Tim Conway’s attempt at being a dentist."

oldgreywolf on wheels Author Icon : "Back when I watched TV, Red Skelton Show, Carol Burnett Show, Monty Python's Flying Circus (depending on where I lived at the time), The Muppets, the interactions between KIRK/SPOCK/MCCOY and some of the other characters on the original (the only) Star Trek.
And let's not forget the theatrical era (prior to 1961) cartoons, especially Tom & Jerry, which held a multiply-warped mirror up to life in the US in the '40s and '50s."

Beholden Author Icon : "Detectorists & Bob Mortimer or Greg Davies."

Mousewitch Author Icon : "Terry, Sarah, Cindy and I are known as The Golden Girls. Terry is Dorothy, Sarah is Blanche, Cindy is Sophia, and I am Rose. Sometimes it irks me a little, but I can't ask for better sister/friends...."

Ang1974 Author Icon : "Hi All! I definitely have to say tv shows from the 80’s : Three’s Company, Mama’s Family, Growing Pains and Perfect Strangers just to name a few. Oh, and you can’t pass up in Living Color"

jackson Author Icon : "The Andy Griffith Show, Art Carney and Jackie Gleason."

bobconstable : "Barney Miller; Three Stooges; Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. And pretty much anything else Old School."

Jtpete 1986 Author Icon : "Tim Conway and Harvey Korman were spectacular together."

The Puppet Master Author Icon : "Roger from American Dad is hilarious."

tj-turkey-jobble-jobble-hard-J Author Icon : "The Tonight Show with Carson was always good, as well as Saturday Night Live. Chris Farley."

Leslie Loo Author Icon : "Classic SpongeBob will always win my heart!"

deemac Author Icon : "Fawlty Towers, probably Manuel. 'I from Barthelona, I know noooothing'.

Jellyfish Author Icon : "Red Dwarf and I like all the characters although Cat was my favourite when I was little! "

Dad Author Icon : "Addams Family, Munsters, Gilligan's Island, Cheers, there's others."

Drew Author Icon : "I love watching Looney Tunes, Tex Avery cartoon shorts, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Rick and Morty, Konosuba, Juju Kaisen (this series may be a action-adventure, but it does have some very funny momments), Futurama, and American Dad."

Bob Author Icon : "Mr. Ed
If you're talking about movies, 'Francis the talking mule' with Donald O'conner was one of my favorites as a kid, but I'm telling off on my age."



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