Jokes & punchlines · Debate & laughs
Dramatic reading party game: Dramatic Reading
The most boring words in the house, performed like Shakespeare. You write them; someone else reads them out cold, with feeling.
- ~20 min
- 3–10 people
- One device, or phones
- Included in Pro
- Ages 10+
What it feels like
The house lights dim. Someone in this room is about to give the performance of a lifetime, about a grocery list. Here's how it works. Everyone writes something boring, in secret, with a style to read it in. Then someone else performs it, cold, with every ounce of feeling. Keep a straight face. The room rates the laugh. Then the performer guesses who wrote it.
How to play
- In secret, write a line for the person named on your phone. They'll read it out loud to the room without seeing it first.
- When it's your turn to read, stand up, read every word, and keep a straight face.
- Everyone else rates the laugh on their phone. Then the reader guesses who wrote it.
Scoring: The writer gets 1 point for a groan, 2 for a laugh and 3 for the floor, from each person rating. A reader who keeps a straight face takes 2; one who cracks gives them to the writer. Guess the writer right and the reader takes 1, wrong and the writer does.
You'll get prompts like
- “{s}'s grocery list, read as a tragedy”
- “The terms and conditions {s} never read, as a love poem”
What you need
3 to 10 people and one phone, tablet or laptop to pass around — or everyone on their own phone in a room. Nothing to download, no accounts. The best lines can be sealed into your group's Almanac and come back in later games.
