The Circus is in Town

Group Size: 10+ participants
Difficulty: Easy
Materials: None
Duration: 5 to 15 minutes

Game Description:¶

"The Circus is in Town" is a fantastic game for creative facilitators because it's different every time, as each facilitator invents their own interactive story. The best way to explain the associated interactions is within the story itself. As the game's name suggests, the facilitator tells a story about a circus that has come to town. Here's a basic guide for the story: Whenever the narrator says "The circus is in town," all listeners must enthusiastically shout "Oh yes!" During the story, the facilitator describes what there is to see at the circus (e.g., jugglers, clowns, acrobats, tightrope walkers, etc.). Whenever one of these attractions is mentioned, all listeners perform a specific movement associated with it (The juggler juggles, the clown makes a funny face, and so on). Now, the story moves to opening the ticket booth for the circus show. This is the signal for everyone to line up at the ticket booth. The facilitator then diligently sells tickets to the waiting guests. The last person in line gets nothing because the tickets are all sold out. This last guest then becomes a lion that must go into the cage (a designated spot). The show now begins, and the narrator can describe all the acts, with the listeners performing the movements on cue again. In addition to the cage, there are two other designated spots or corners. One has popcorn, and the other has cotton candy. If the word "popcorn" is mentioned in the story, everyone must run to the popcorn corner and shout "pop pop pop" as if they were popcorn. The last person to arrive at the popcorn corner also becomes a lion and goes into the cage. It works similarly with the cotton candy corner: if the word "cotton candy" is mentioned, everyone runs to the cotton candy corner, spins in a circle, and says "Sugar, sugar." Whoever does this last becomes a lion. The facilitator can switch between these elements in their story at any time: commands, the ticket booth, and the cotton candy and popcorn corners. If several people have already become lions, the facilitator can move on to the next option: the animal presentation for the audience. Initially, the lions are only allowed to go up to a certain line, and the spectators can get very close to marvel at the lions. However, the spectators must also be shown the safety line, where they are safe from escaped lions. This is because the narrator can shout "The lions are loose!" at any time. At this command, the lions sprint off and try to catch the spectators. The spectators, of course, try to get behind the safety line as quickly as possible. Whoever gets caught also becomes a lion. If there are no spectators left to catch because everyone is safely behind the line, the facilitator leads the lions back to the cage and starts a new animal presentation. If eventually, no spectators remain, there are only happy lions, and the story comes to an end.

Source:¶

Tasifan Spielebuch

Cross-references¶

The Circus Comes to Town

Inclusive¶

• Popcorn (hop + call "pop pop")
• Clowns (laugh)
• Cotton candy (spin)
• Tigers (hiss, creep, arch back)