is bibbity bibbity bop the most important warmup in history?

beardedlamb · Post by **beardedlamb** » November 15th, 2011, 4:27 pm

a rhetorical question, as I'm sure you know.

i'm working on a little compendium of games and when i got to writing the description for bibbity bibbity bop i was amazed at how much time i had to spend on it. most games require about 1 minute and maybe two lines of text. this took me about 20 minutes and eats up 2 whole pages of the book.

excerpted from the Ultimate Games Guide, coming soon...

"Bibbity Bibbity Bop [3] (3+) focus/agreement/listening/energy : Bibbity Bibbity Bop is an amalgamation of many different exercises smashed into one super warm-up. With the actors in a circle, have one take to the center. The middle actor's goal is to get out of the middle, and they have many ways to accomplish this. The most basic is by addressing one of the actors in the circle directly and saying "bibbity bibbity bop." If the middle actor can say bop before the circle actor can say bop, they switch places and we have a new middle actor. The middle actor can also attempt to get the circle actor to say bop by simply saying bop. If the circle actor falls for it, they switch. There are also a seemingly endless number of variations on what the middle actor can say. Changing the first sound in bibbity bibbity bop to some other such as tibbity tibbity top means the circle actor must say top instead of bop. Additionally, there are several other phrases the middle actor could use to trip up the circle actors. Below is a chart with a few examples and what each is required to say:
MIDDLE...................................CIRCLE
My hip went pop.......................pop
My poop went plop....................plop
My cock got blocked.................blocked
My socks got rocked.................rocked
Sarasota-Bradenton..................enton
The ship is ship-shaped.............ship-shaped
The cake is cake-shaped...........cake-shaped
The dick is cock-shaped............cock-shaped
The cock is dick-shaped............dick-shaped

Any variations on these are encouraged to be discovered, but should be agreed on by the group. An actor can't just make one up and implement it at her whim.
The middle actor also has the option of going up to any circle actor and saying anything at all. The actor she addresses and the actors to either side of her must all then do their best to portray whatever was spoken before the middle actor can count to 10. Once she gets to 10, it is up to her to determine if any of the three actors should be in the middle for whatever reason relating to portraying the spoken item. Examples would be: "Ronald Reagan," "The Titanic," and "Valentine's Day." It really can be anything at all.
To keep it interesting and risky for the circle actors, they may at any time attempt to switch places in the circle with each other. If the middle actor sees any empty spot on the edge of the circle, she may occupy it, forcing the ousted actor to become the new middle actor. The circle actors should be encouraged to be risky with switching but it should be noted that eye contact and permission must be given before two actors can switch, this way actors aren't ordering each other around.
tips: Don't try to explain it all at once. Do it in stages.
- The middle actor has full and final say over who is right and who is wrong. Don't let actors debate over who is in the middle.
- Make sure the middle actor is counting to 10 after announcing a challenge. This is a common problem. No one knows why.
- Allow the game to evolve and change organically based on your group's preferences.
var: In larger groups or more advanced smaller groups, it's fun to have more than one person in the middle.
aka Bibbity Bobbety Boop, Borbety Buppity Borp, Triple B"

What i love about this game is how many different essential things it works on: ensemble, energy, listening, movement, focus, voice, support, play and yesand. it covers all of the things that make for a strong ensemble and a good show. and it allows for endless evolution and customization to fit the needs of the group. it works with beginners and seasoned veterans depending on how much of the rules you dole out. love it.

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell · November 15th, 2011, 4:49 pm

MONEY CASH HOES!

LuBu McJohnson · Post by **LuBu McJohnson** » November 15th, 2011, 5:19 pm

Look, I like to think that I'm a pretty open-minded guy and can accept the opinions of others, but anyone who doesn't like bibbity bibbity bop is a piece of shit.

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » November 15th, 2011, 6:04 pm

I hate it, but I will freely admit that's because of how badly I suck at it.

Ruby W. · Post by **Ruby W.** » November 15th, 2011, 6:23 pm

I didn't get this game at all until Andy Crouch told me that it taught playful mischievousness. Then I got it. And loved it.

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » November 15th, 2011, 6:25 pm

Ruby W. wrote:I didn't get this game at all until Andy Crouch told me that it taught playful mischievousness. Then I got it. And loved it.

Well, good for you.

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell · November 15th, 2011, 7:18 pm

Jeremy, you forgot "my dick went flop" in that sequence. there's no need to thank me.

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » November 15th, 2011, 8:25 pm

I love the game but I do have to add something regarding all of the non-basic rules, that come out of this:

"Any variations on these are encouraged to be discovered, but should be agreed on by the group."

Most of the examples you give are Jury-specific and when you're not in that special club and someone busts one out that you've never seen before, it tends to alienate the uninitiated. But the solution is pretty amazing...that being that the person in the middle who introduced the weird (yet established for some people) rule doesn't call someone out who clearly has never encountered the rule. They repeat the line one, two more times until the other person understands how to respond. That magical moment where the person on the outside is caught off-guard and then trained in the moment about the new rule is pretty amazing and maps to rapid-thinking game of the scene stuff that we do subconsciously.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? Did I describe it well enough?

Chuy! · Post by **Chuy!** » November 15th, 2011, 8:31 pm

If not liking BBB makes me a piece of shit, then I don't want to be pee...

Chuy! · Post by **Chuy!** » November 15th, 2011, 8:42 pm

If not liking BBB makes me a piece of shit, then I don't want to be pee...

valetoile · Post by **valetoile** » November 15th, 2011, 10:17 pm

One of my students taught me a game which obviously melds right into BBB.
When the center person says,->You say:
moo->cow
cow->moo
meow->cat
cat->meow
mao->chairman
chairman->mao

if you say anything else, you are in the middle.

You could also add truth circle to BBB. The possibilities are endless.

LuBu McJohnson · Post by **LuBu McJohnson** » November 15th, 2011, 11:41 pm

ratliff wrote:I hate it, but I will freely admit that's because of how badly I suck at it.

Ratliff is forgiven. He is too skinny for the game, and when he moves into the middle of the circle, sometimes I cannot see him (if I am looking at his side, for example).

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » November 15th, 2011, 11:43 pm

This warmup is the closest I ever get to playing a sport.

ratliff · Post by **ratliff** » November 15th, 2011, 11:43 pm

kbadr wrote:I love the game but I do have to add something regarding all of the non-basic rules, that come out of this:

"Any variations on these are encouraged to be discovered, but should be agreed on by the group."

Most of the examples you give are Jury-specific and when you're not in that special club and someone busts one out that you've never seen before, it tends to alienate the uninitiated. But the solution is pretty amazing...that being that the person in the middle who introduced the weird (yet established for some people) rule doesn't call someone out who clearly has never encountered the rule. They repeat the line one, two more times until the other person understands how to respond. That magical moment where the person on the outside is caught off-guard and then trained in the moment about the new rule is pretty amazing and maps to rapid-thinking game of the scene stuff that we do subconsciously.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? Did I describe it well enough?

At this point you're dangerously close to describing an organic warmup.

Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell · November 16th, 2011, 12:27 am

kbadr wrote:I love the game but I do have to add something regarding all of the non-basic rules, that come out of this:

"Any variations on these are encouraged to be discovered, but should be agreed on by the group."

Most of the examples you give are Jury-specific and when you're not in that special club and someone busts one out that you've never seen before, it tends to alienate the uninitiated. But the solution is pretty amazing...that being that the person in the middle who introduced the weird (yet established for some people) rule doesn't call someone out who clearly has never encountered the rule. They repeat the line one, two more times until the other person understands how to respond. That magical moment where the person on the outside is caught off-guard and then trained in the moment about the new rule is pretty amazing and maps to rapid-thinking game of the scene stuff that we do subconsciously.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? Did I describe it well enough?

yeah, absolutely. actually, a lot of these were developed post-Jury in the Cupholders, so when they were brought back to the rest of us who had no idea this was much the approach that was taken. so at first it felt like, "but...but this used to be OURS!" and quickly melted into "oh, i get it now, and this is AWESOME! what else can we create?"