Stay Sober

Players form two teams and stand facing each other. The players on the first team are given one minute to make anyone laugh on the opposite team. They may make faces, gestures, funny or teasing remarks, but they are not allowed to touch the players on the opposite team. Then the action is reversed, and the members of the second team try to make the players on the first team laugh. Any player who laughs must leave the line. The team with the most remaining players after several turns is the winner.

Variations: In "Giggle Belly," players lie on the floor in a line. Each rests his head on the next player's stomach. On signal, the first player says "Ha!" the next says, "Ha, Ha!" and the third, "Ha, Ha, Ha!" and so on. Rarely does this continue past the fifth player, for by that time all the players are laughing. In "Silly Telegram," a number of humorous telegrams are written ahead of time. The players form two lines faces each other. Player No. 1 on team A gives his telegram to player No. 1 on team B. The player who receives the telegram reads it in a loud voice. If he succeeds in orally delivering the message to the assembled players without laughing, his team scores a point. If he fails, the other team gets the point. Successive telegrams are delivered in this manner, first from one side, then the other. The side with more points after all the telegrams have been read wins. 

Originally published June 21, 2010.