Title: Rhyming Games
General Information about Item:
- Customary Folklore: Ritual, Tradition
- English
- USA
Informant Data:
- Connor Lehan is 21 years old and was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and currently lives there. He has been a member of Casual Thursday since his freshman fall. He had no experience with improvisation before joining Casual Thursday.
Contextual Data:
- Social Context
Casual Thursday plays rhyming games before performances and often during practices. All members of the group who are present at the time participate. The group began playing rhyming games in 2001 when the group was founded. Playing the rhyming games gets the group members thinking quickly and increases their energy without tiring them out.
- Cultural Context
The rhyming games are extremely spontaneous and often silly, and this reflects the carefree culture of Casual Thursday.
Item:
Casual Thursday has many pre-performance songs and chants that rely on spontaneous rhyming. These games rely on group participation and have the participants rhyme and sing on the spot. An example of one of this games is “My Mother Don’t Wear No Socks”. A video is included below demonstrating this game.
Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):
Transcript of Associated File:
“One that we did last night was, the song is called ‘My Mother Don’t Wear No Socks’. ‘Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum ba bum bum bum bum bum bum bum ba bum bum’. And during that, whoever is up, the person next to them whispers a word into their ear. Say the word is, house. So ‘bum bum ba bum bum bum’. And the person goes, ‘my mother don’t wear no socks, ba dum ba. I was there when sh took them off, ba dum ba. My mother lives in a house, ba dum ba, and she shares it with a mouse, ba dum ba’. And then they whisper to the next person and you just go around and everyone has a verse.”
Informant’s Comments:
The informant believes that this game as well as many of the other spontaneous and silly rituals Casual Thursday have help group members become confident with being spontaneous and carefree in front of groups of people.
Collector’s Comments:
This game is another one of Casual Thursday’s traditions that really captures the culture and essence of the group. Not only does it play off of the group’s carefree culture, but it also helps members get excited, warmed up and ready for performances.
Collector’s Name: Shinar Jain
Compiled/Analyzed by: Sruthi Pasupuleti
Tags/Keywords:
- Improvisation
- Comedy
- Game
- Ritual
- Tradition