If a hypnotist can get a confederate who will get thoroughly into the spirit of the thing and sigh, shudder, go into a trance, or act completely exhausted, while the hypnotist himself makes a serious thing out of it, a group can be completely deceived as to the genuineness of the performance.
Eny.
This is particularly good for a table game or in any situation where there is no room for moving around. Announce that there is a word in the English language that ends in “eny,” pronounced like “any.” It is necessary to put just one letter at the beginning to make it a very common and much used word. Suggest that they begin with “a” putting every letter of the alphabet in turn before “eny” till the proper letter is found. The usual process is this: “A-eny, b-eny, c-eny, d-eny, f-eny, g-eny, h-eny,” and so on through the entire alphabet until an impatient “Why there isn’t a single letter that will do it,” calls forth your positive assurance that there is a letter that will do it.
If they simply cannot get it, ask them to change the accent. Finally they will arrive. “D-eny” is a perfectly good word.
“T.”
Guests are sitting about informally when the hostess turns to her right-hand neighbor, Mrs. Brown, and says, “I simply can’t abide ‘t’ but I like onions. What do you like, Mrs. Brown?” and Mrs. Brown, who knows the game, answers, “I don’t like ‘t’ but I like cabbage,” and turns to the next one who is in the dark as to what they are talking about, and asks her what she likes. She replies, “Well, I don’t like tea but I love soda water,” but laughter greets her and she is told that she certainly cannot join their secret organization. Her right-hand neighbor then tells what she likes, and so it goes around the circle, all the uninitiated trying valiantly to get in on this secret understanding that seems to be so funny. Before it has gone around the circle once, however, someone gets it. She is not allowed to tell, but when her turn comes in the second round she gives evidence as to whether she is right or not. She might say perhaps, “I don’t like ‘t’ but I do like pickles!” and she is declared an initiated member.
It is very simple. If you wish to belong to the “Anti-T” band your taste must run to food that has no “t” in it, like pickles, soup, etc., etc. but not like potatoes, turnips or ketchup!
Self Praise.
The hostess makes a remark to the effect that “This group is mighty good-looking,” accompanying the remark with a very prim, set smile, and then asks the one at her right to repeat it exactly as she gave it. The neighbor gives what she considers an exact duplication of the remark and the smile, but she is told that she isn’t even warm, so the next one tries it and so it goes around the circle, with some of them utter failures and others very successful. This continues until most of them have arrived.
Many of them put the greatest emphasis on the smile, thinking that that is the important factor, which of course is just exactly what you wanted them to think, for half the fun of the game is caused by the utterly hopeless smiles that are forthcoming. The successful ones however have noticed that each time before you made a remark you cleared your throat. Easy, isn’t it, when you know how?