This Autumn ITV2 launch a new game show Minute to Win It. The new eight-part series, in association with Cadbury Spots v Stripes campaign, sees two popular TV hosts captain groups of friends as they compete head-to-head in hilarious and bonkers 60-second challenges using everyday household objects.
One of the games they are going to play has been named A Game of One Half (see video below) This is basically a game where you throw playing cards at half watermelon in the hope that some of them remain
embedded in the watermelon flesh.
Throwing cards at fruit appears to be quite a popular past-time if You Tube is anything to go by, with melons, cucumbers, tomatoes and even apples all being used by fruit salad loving card throwers.
However, if you want to play a more hard-core card throwing game I would recommend the playing card version of Knife Throwing. Simply get a willing victim accomplice to strip off their top and adopt a crucifix position. Then fire cards at them with the intention that they just miss their body. Obviously, the occasional mistake adds to the fun. And remember as the video below says,"Please do not try this at home. Cards may look harmless but they leave welts and scars when hit."
As summer arrives and everyone migrates to the nation's beaches to sunbathe and play in the surf, body board and even surf board we at Blister Towers prefer a more unusual sporting activity - Ironing Board Surfing. Simply borrow one of the servants ironing boards and head for the stairs. The embedded video from students at Hertfordshire University perfectly demonstrates the thrill to be had from this great sport.
In the excitement of writing my previous post all about games involving buckets and balls I forgot about Extreme Bucket Ball which has previously been covered in Strange Games
The game works best with smallish teams of two or three players each. Teams take it in turns to have one of their members be the Bucket Boy - this player stands in the centre of a 3m chalk-drawn circle on the floor and uses both hands to hold a plastic bucket on top of their head. The game starts with Bucket Boy's team mates trying to toss as many tennis balls as possible into the bucket - Bucket Boy can aid this by moving around but he must remain inside the circle at all times. Similarly, team-mates must throw the balls from outside the circle. The opposing team however must try to disturb Bucket Boy, getting him to miss balls or even better spill his bucket. They do this by firing any tennis balls they can get at Bucket Boy's body (again, they have to remain outside the circle) You can make a no-headshots rule if you like. Whenever a ball becomes free there is a mad scramble for control of it from both sides. Play for a set time, count the bruises and the balls in Bucket Boy's bucket then swap sides and play again. Good clean fun.
This Autumn ITV2 launch a new game show Minute to Win It. The new eight-part series, in association with Cadbury Spots v Stripes campaign, sees two popular TV hosts captain groups of friends as they compete head-to-head in hilarious and bonkers 60-second challenges using everyday household objects. You can see the official video trailer here. But the trailer doesn't feature some of the more interesting games. So, I thought I'd cover one or two of them in the coming weeks.
Like most of these games Bucket Head requires minimal equipment, just a ping pong ball, a bucket and maybe the ability to be not too worried about loss of dignity. Simply strap the bucket to your head and attempt to bounce the ball off the floor and a wall so that it ends up in the bucket.
When I saw the name Bucket Head I though it might be the classic but bizarre party game that goes by the same name, covered by Strange Games way back in 2006:
Bucketheads is an hilarious yet asinine game for two (or possibly more) people.
Two players place an object on the floor preferably somewhere near the edge of the room. The object can be anything that is easily recognisable.
They then go to the centre of the room and each places a plastic bucket over their heads. The bucket should act as a partial blindfold enabling each player to see some but not much of the floor. It is also quite disorientating. The players then hold hands and spin around a set number of times. The point of this is for the players to further lose their orientation and a little of their balance but not to be totally dizzy. The race is then on to find the object first. As well as fun to play it is also fun to observe two of your friends staggering wildly around the room wearing buckets and crashing into each other.
Even more bucket related fun can be had by playing Bucket Ball. Bucket Ball has a similar feel to Hanet Ballin the sense that the player actually stands within the goal but it is much weirder, more fun and... uses buckets.
For two competing players. At the start of the game each player stands facing the other a few yards apart. Both have placed their feet into plastic buckets, one on each foot. For children playing the game a standard bucket is usually perfect – for adult players you may need to search a garden centre for larger specimens. Players hold in their hands an equal number of small balls. The aim of the game is to throw and get as many balls as possible into either of your opponent's buckets whilst avoiding too many in your own. Players are allowed to move about so the game soon develops into tense stand offs, daring bucket-footed attacks and desperately clumsy leg movements to avoid incoming balls landing in a bucket. Any player falling over loses and once all balls have been thrown all you need to do is add up the bucket-balls to determine the winner.
It is time once again for the tweed based jewel in the world of strange sports - The Chap Olympiad. The Olympiad, 'a celebration of sporting ineptitude and immaculate trouser creases' is being held this Saturday 16th July in Bedford Square, London. Its Past events have included Cucumber Sandwich Discus alongside the regular game of Umbrella Jousting, where chaps, and chapettes, mount bicycles and using their rolled up umbrellas against each other protected only by a copy of the Times held as a shield.
Even more exciting, this year's event contains 7 new disciplines including Butler Baiting and Shouting at Foreigners and possibly the greatest strange sporting event ever.... Competitive Swooning, one for the ladies.
Don't miss it.
Pip pip!
Montegue
ps If you want to know whether you are a Chap or not you need to read the Chap magazine
Strange Games inbox has been inundated by an email from James Michie who along with his colleagues Joe Kelly and Nicholas Wright run Wrong Pong competitions. The next one is being held as part of the Sneinton Festival in Nottingham on Saturday the 2nd of July.
Wrong Pong has been described as a combination of Ping Pong and crazy golf. It is basically table tennis on specially designed tables that make the ball's movement unpredictable. So , the table might slope at some crazy angle, or have different surfaces or obstacles attached such as strips of wood.
Is it a sport, art or maybe dance? No, it's Hockern!
An email from Stephan Landshutz at SportHocker reminds me of the truly inspred sport of Hockern. So it is with no apologies that I repost a previous post on this sport. Check out the SportHocker website here for some amazing Hockern pictures.
Germany's contribution to the world of odd games and sports is truly bizarre. Hockern (German for 'stools') is a little like competitive break dancing...only, break dancing using a milking stool. Competitors stand in front of the Hockern judges and show off their best stool movements (sorry). These will include spinning the stool on the floor, balancing upon it (on knee, stomach or even head), and tossing it into the air and speed sitting on it wherever it lands. One of the favourite moves is a high speed throw over the the shoulders, back through between the legs and squat down onto it.
Another cool trick is to have a friend slide the stool along the floor towards you for you to sit down hard upon it as it reaches you. And it's not just a solo sport. There are synchronised group events too that have to be seen to be believed. The superstars of this new sport are known as Hockstars and regular competitions are held in the nightclubs of Germany including the prestigious Hocktoberfest.
Now is the time to grab your stool and live the dream because Hockern will surely be a demonstration sport, probably sponsored by Ikea, in the next Olympic Games.
My previous post on Beer Pong got me to wondering whether it would be possible to combine the narrow Beer Pong table with Table Wrestling to enjoy two strange games at once.
Even if the result would be a bit of a gaming disaster it is still worth revisiting the majestic sport of Table Wrestling. The Table Wrestling website is a delight and visiting it I found this picture showing how to enjoy the great outdoors.
Even better is the picture below which shows a master of the technique that is known as the Sennewald Sh@g Special. I have just been attempting this at my local IKEA on a small kitchen table named a Fuktar and can confirm that it is not easy.
Table Wrestling is a sport with a history that goes back to Roman times where slaves were forced to to mount their master's table and try to circumnavigate it whilst wagers were made...or it could be just an inspired made-up game by a group of bored sixth-formers in Worcester. Whichever it is, Table Wrestling is undoubtedly one of the greatest and strangest Wrestling events.
To play, simply get a table (a school size one works well, but one with more character can sometimes give greater opportunity for hand holds) lie on top of it (face down is best) then try and go 360 degrees around it without touching the ground with any part of your body. The most common technique is to stretch a hand all the way underneath to grab the opposing edge before the rest of your body follows and you fall to the floor. Then simply pull yourself underneath and then, hopefully, back onto the top. It's a little like keelhauling - only with a table and no risk of drowning.
Once you have mastered the basic move you can advance to travelling around the table length ways or if you are especially advanced in a figure of eight movement. For the hardcore table wrestler you could even attempt the 'altitude' version where you balance 1 table on the top of two others before going around it. If you are particularly speedy why not try and beat the world record which stands at 10 rotations in 1 minute!
