No Fair!
Two of the men are blindfolded and are asked to sit in the middle of the circle on the floor, facing each other with knees touching. Each one is given a swatter, made of newspapers folded together. At a signal, the smaller one of the two is told to call out to the other “Where are you?” and the big one is to answer “Right here,” and then without moving his knees he may dodge in any way he can to avoid the sweep of the swatter that his opponent aims in the direction of the “Right here.” He may be successful in his dodging, but then again, he may not, and he gets a “swat” that calls for revenge, so he takes his turn, and calls out, “Where are you?”, and the small one answers, “Right here” and immediately dodges as best he can the avenging swatter that is swatting in his direction. They take turns at this for a few moments and then the small one, to whom the leader has whispered a few words when he was blindfolding him, slips down the blindfolder and gets in several good dodges and several good swats before his opponent gets suspicious that all is not well!
Mr. Bumps.
The leader invites her guests to watch very closely the ceremony she will go through in honor of her friend Mr. Bumps, and tells them that an opportunity will be given to imitate the ceremony.
She sits at a table with a glass of water before her and with all simplicity begins her ceremony. Holding the glass between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand she takes a sip of water and says, “I drink to Mr. Bumps,” puts the glass down, taps on top of the table with her right forefinger, does the same with her left forefinger, repeats the finger tapping performance under the edge of the table, taps the floor with her right foot, then her left foot, and finally, bows her head once.
The second part of the ceremony is exactly like the first except that everything is done twice and the glass is held between the thumb and two fingers instead of just one finger. Two drinks are taken; the toast, “I drink to Mr. Bumps twice,” is given; the right forefinger and the left forefinger tap twice on top of the table and twice under the edge of the table; the right foot and then the left foot tap on the floor; and the head is bowed twice.
The third and last part of the ceremony too is just like the first, except that everything is done three times, and the glass is held between the thumb and three fingers, and the toast is, “I drink to Mr. Bumps for the third and last time.”
A cordial invitation to do likewise is then issued. While the explanation as given here may sound rather complicated, the performance really looks extremely simple, and in the average group there will be several who are sure they can do it. I have never yet seen a person do it absolutely correctly with the first effort, and it usually takes several efforts to master this apparently very simple procedure. Every applicant is given just one chance in the first round and at his first mistake he is supplanted by a new applicant. When they have all been given a chance (and incidentally all have failed) they are all urged to try again and each successive time it becomes easier but only one mistake is allowed in each trial.
You may look skeptical at the statement that real head-work is essential. My only answer is, “Try it!”