The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #85915   Message #2787218
Posted By: Rowan
12-Dec-09 - 10:35 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Concentration (kids' game)
Subject: RE: Origins: Concentration (kids' game)
Four years ago, Joe Offer wrote
I used to know a drinking game called "Concentration." Everybody would bound on the table at a fast pace, and chant:
Concentration. Concentration is our game.
Keep the rhythm, ___________ _________
__________ _________________

And then somebody would do hand signals and point to another person, and that person had to duplicate the hand signals or chug a beer.
I am fundamentally uncoordinated and don't catch onto games like this, so a game like this could be dangerous for me. I generally watched from the sidelines and ate pizza and drank my beer a little more slowly.


His description is almost identical to the game we in Oz (in intervarsity circles around the early to late 60s) called "Thumper". The differences were;
1 Each player had their own unique hand signal (rather difficult when played with 10 or more in the group) and
2 When a signal was transmitted (properly) the receiver had to repeat their own signal and then pass it on to someone other than the person who had sent it to them.

The skolling of the beer as punishment for errors was the same, however. It wasn't a game I favoured once I saw a group coordinate a focus on a person who, like Joe, had difficulty with signal dexterity and was known to have a limited tolerance of alcohol.

There was another drinking game (ie, similar penalties) called "WhizzBang". This involved a circle of participants who would, consecutively, call out the next sequential number as the 'call' proceeded around the circle. Any number that was a multiple of 5 had to have its call replaced by calling "Whizz" and every number that ended in 7 or was a multiple of 7 had its call replaced by calling "Bang". 25 was replaced by "WhizzWhizz", 35 was replaced by "WhizzBang" and 49 by "BangBang". At every call that was not a proper number the direction of calling reversed around the circle and a mistaken call or reversal incurred a skoll, after which the skoller (scholar?) restarted the count at "1".

Very few games got past "WhizzBang" as I recall and my ability to get to 50 without error was rarely needed, but I did meet one fellow who had all the calls and reversals 'off pat" up to 100.

Cheers, Rowan