Lounge Lizards offers a challenging musical decider for all your short-form needs.
The Basics
Players sing excerpts of well-known songs that feature the specific word on which their opponent ended the prior song lyric. If the new singer is unable to provide a sung solution to the riddle in a set time (usually a five-second countdown facilitated by the host or emcee), or the crowd judged that they have “cheated” by inventing a song or smudging the pertinent lyric, they are disqualified by an audience-provided buzzer sound or similar. Each start (or re-start) is usually initiated from a new song suggestion from the audience. The elimination continues until only one player (or team) remains.
Version one
Players perform in two opposing teams, often behind two mic stands on either side of the stage. Each new lyric challenge can be met by any player in the opposite camp who quickly steps up to their microphone to sing their lyrical offering before the countdown expires. This format tends to last longer – possibly problematically so – as there are more players actively in play at any given moment.
Version two
Here, players form one straight line on the lip of the stage. If opposing teams are in the mix, members should elect to stand beside their competition (rather than teammates) whenever possible. Play passes sequentially down the line (stage right to stage left and then back around) with only the next player facing the challenge of conjuring an appropriate song.
Example
Player A gets “Love Me Do” to start the game as their fellow improvisers form a line beside them (as in version two above).
Player A: “Love, love me do. You know I love you.” (They repeat “you,” so the next player knows the relevant offer.)
Caller: “You. Five, four, three, two…”
Player B: (interrupting the countdown to start singing) “You are so beautiful to me, can’t you see.” (They repeat “see” for the audience and next singer.)
Caller: “See. Five, four, three…”
Player C: (interrupting the countdown to start singing) “Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light.” (They repeat “light” for clarity.)
Caller: “Light. Five, four, three, two, one…”
Player D: (hurriedly, unconvincingly, out of tune and off tempo) “And you, you light up my life…”
The audience makes a buzzer sound, and D is eliminated... The next player gets a new suggestion, and the game restarts.
The Focus
As a decider, the game is largely about attack, playfulness, and building rapport with your audience.
Traps and Tips
1.) Play generously. Especially as the game begins, offer your teammates workable words to riff on. Player C, for example, could have pitched “dawn’s” as a guaranteed stumper but give the audience a taste of success before raising the heat. Deciders can tend to fall flat if there’s no momentum or initial display of finesse. Sure, if you’re four minutes into the game, stumpers are likely needed, but don’t let the desire to “win” to undermine the display of improvisational play and fun.
2.) Play by the rules. You’ll want to set clear expectations and infractions up front, such as that players don’t need to start each subsequent lyric with the proffered word. Some rules will undoubtedly be discovered in the flow of performance: one audience might enjoy Player C using a homonym of “sea” when they start singing the alphabet song, while another will buzz it out immediately. Either is fine, particularly when led by the audience (perhaps with a little cajoling from the caller). Generally, avoid using the same song twice or passing on the same word just for the sake of variety.
3.) Play around the rules. This exercise falls under the “parlor game” category of show elements. As such, it can grow stale quickly if players are bland, inept, or only playing the dynamic on a surface level – dare I say, just trying to win but little else. Few of us would want to watch others play a Monopoly game for any length of time, and so we shouldn’t inflict that on an audience either! A little mischievousness, charm, and personality will go a long way to adding to the event and introducing the players’ quirks to the crowd. Perhaps all of A’s songs are Beetles hits, or B always includes crisp choreography, or C is the least able singer of the cast but always sings out the loudest… Don’t let the decider be just a parlor game. With that in mind…
4.) Play to lose. I prefer the second version as it tends to force outs when only one player is in the hotseat at a time, but in either iteration, it’s a rare feat for the crowd to be enjoying the game as much in minute eight as they were in minute two. Sneaking the occasional made-up song past the audience is delightful, but there may come a time when players (or the caller) need to give permission or encourage eliminations just to keep things moving. As always, modeling happy losing is a great way of demonstrating the spirit of improv, too.
In Performance
This can be a little rough to sit through if you’re playing in an ensemble without any able singers – even if the players themselves like the challenge – so schedule this warmup in your lineups accordingly. And if you’re the host or caller, keep it moving!
Cheers, David Charles.
www.improvdr.com
Join my Facebook group here.
© 2024 David Charles/ImprovDr
Game Library Expansion Pack I
ImprovDr.com 