[Sarah-Jane Crowson]

Hello,

I don't know if anyone is interested in surrealist games, but if you are, here are some to share, which might either be adapted to a zoom (like Mario's L.A.M.P) or to play in a different way.

The games are taken from Surrealist Games (Brotchie & Gooding, 1991). It's a child's book but the games are fun. It also has a beautifully crazy picture of Max Ernst and the famous one of Andre Breton insulting a priest in it, but let's stick to the games.

1. Definitions (or question and answer)


2. Directions for use (my favourite)


3. One into another


What do you think? They're out there now, winking at you, as quizzical as Magritte wearing a pith helmet and enticing as Peret's strange vest.

Sarah-Jane

[Ann Drysdale]

On my screen they're so wide I have to scroll sideways to read them. It adds to the surrealism.

We once had great fun in this forum with "Exquisite Corpse". Do search for the threads. They were not universally popular but those of us who partook were nourished thereby.

[Sarah-Jane Crowson]

Ann - thank-you, and I will take a look (I love how you have visual and poetry on this board, also games).

Apologies for super-sized images. I've resized them - hopefully that's better. If not, please tell me as it's easy to resize.

thank-you again,

Sarah-Jane

[Graham King]

Thank you for these!
I especially like the Definitions, or Question and Answer.
The Echo Poem idea also appeals as one to try!

[Matt Q]

I really like the question and answer/definition games. I'm trying to think about the logistics of how you could do that over Zoom, or even on a forum, since the question needs to be unseen when the answer is written.

Assuming a group of people on Zoom, I guess everyone could write one question and one unrelated* answer (both off-screen). Then given some pre-assigned order, person 1 could read their question, person 2 could read their answer and follow with a question for person 3 (to answer) and so on in a ring ... with the last person reading their question having it answered by person 1.

The "Conditionals" game could be played in the same way -- since it has the same structure: rather than questions and answers, one player chooses and "if" statement, and another independently and "blindly" chooses a "then" statement. (A couple of examples: "if/then" statements : “If there were no guillotine / Wasps would take off their corsets”; “If octopi wore bracelets / Ships would be towed by flies”)

(*I guess it would still work if everyone wrote a question and an answer to their own question -- ditto with if/then statements -- since the answers would be linked up with unrelated questions, but it would be a slightly different game)

Can't see an easy way to play these on a forum though.

"One into another" seems like it could be quite straightforward on Zoom. Banish the one player to a breakout room or trust them to switch off their audio ...

[Graham King]

It occurs to me that the Questions and Answers might be rhyming couplets, submitted as one pair (or more) per person.. with answers either germane to or irrelevant to the question.

These could then be reconfigured, mismatching them - by, say, passing the answer parts one or more people 'clockwise' (in a real bubble or a notional online circle). The odd pairs could be enjoyable; hopefully, amusing!
Perhaps, finally, the whole lot could be reassembled into a poem, either as first paired: qAaAqBaB.. or in other rhyme-schemes, such as
qAqBaAaB.., qAaBqBaA.

e.g. original couplets:

What measure take, if time be dull?
-A visit to the Isle of Mull.

How long is best to boil an egg?
-Shake twice a lamb's tail, then a leg.

What's the weather like outside?
-I went and looked, then ran to hide.

Who's that knocking at our door?
-A dozen cops - perhaps a score.

and one possible final assemblage:

What measure take, if time be dull?
Shake twice a lamb's tail, then a leg.
How long is best to boil an egg?
A visit to the Isle of Mull.
Who's that knocking at our door?
I went and looked, then ran to hide.
What's the weather like outside?
A dozen cops - perhaps a score.

Another way to generate the rhymes would be to assign the rhyming end-words to participants, perhaps taken from some existing poem (as in The Oldie bout-rimés competitions); and with some metre agreed in advance, to ensure compatibility.