What Do You Want / More Spectacular Deaths

The childhood pastime of Spectacular Deaths has all but died out these days (sorry) but its coverage on Strange Games no:139 prompted an e-mail from Molly McDoodle about a variation played in Scotland called What Do You Want?

Players stand in front of a chanter who shouts out,
"What do you want, what do you want, Gun, Arrow or Atom Bomb?" After which all players must act out their death as if they were killed with a gun or a bow and arrow or most spectacularly of all an atomic bomb.

The 'winner' of the game is decided not just by who can die in the most sensational or realistic way but who can 'remain dead' the best when the chanter walks among them and prods the bodies with his or her feet.

It's a sort of combination game of Spectacular Deaths and a violent version of that old party favourite Statues. Marvellous!

strange games no:175