It is to laugh

by Edna Geister

The other side then has its turn, and after about ten minutes of this, announce that the next act will be the last, and that a count will be taken to see which side lost and which won the most members. The winners get a double share of refreshments!

Automobile.

All of the guests but one are given chairs, and they are seated informally about the room. The one who has no chair is the assembler. To every other player is given the name of some part of an automobile, a list of which names has been prepared beforehand to avoid the uninteresting delay that is inevitable when a hostess has to stop to think of names to assign people. For example, there are the radiator, the clutch, the steering wheel, gears, speedometer, tonneau, brakes, all the different parts of an automobile which are easy enough to think of when one is at leisure and can sit down with pencil and paper and work out such a list, but a slightly different proposition when one is before a group of guests who are waiting.

That list is given to the assembler and he begins his story of a trip to the country one Sunday, a trip which was a series of mishaps. He tells how he prepared for the trip, bringing in the names of the various parts, and as he calls out the various parts they “assemble” in a line directly in back of him, with hands on the shoulders of the one in front of them. The story goes on, all about the accidents and hard luck of the day, how he stripped his gears, etc., etc., until all of the parts are assembled in line behind the assembler, when the automobile starts running around the room, at first slowly, but getting faster and faster until all of a sudden the leader stops abruptly, calls out “Honk! honk!”—at which time it is the immediate business of life to break ranks and get a chair. There is a mad scramble for chairs, successful for all but one.

This unfortunate is the assembler for the next time. Everyone is given a different part and the game goes on as before. At the end every effort is made to make this assembler, who was too slow to get a chair the first time, just as unsuccessful this time. At any rate, the one who doesn’t get a chair is the assembler for the next and last run, and if it has been possible to keep some person from getting a chair two successive times he is obliged to pay the corner forfeit, which compels him to cry in one corner, laugh in the next, dance in the next, and sing Home Sweet Home in the last.

Be Definite!

The hostess calls out the following words and expressions, assigning one to every guest in turn, and immediately each one must give his definition of the word or expression given him. The fun in this venture (and the fun may be endless!) lies in the word given out. For example, “Goatee.” Everybody knows what a goatee is, but mighty few can give an intelligent definition of it. Almost invariably the answer will be “Oh, you know. Something that—something that—well, you know—” and then will come the downward stroking of the chin! But no pantomiming is allowed, although you have said nothing about it. Anyone who pantomimes is punished by being given an extra word, the second, much harder than the first. The following may be included:

1. Goatee.

2. A feeble effort.

3. A puff of wind.