Synonyms
Bippity Bop, Bappety Boo, Boom bing Buckety Wing Fing Fatah.
Introduction
Everyone form a circle with one player in the centre. This warm-up breaks the ice, gets people stressed and prepares one for failure.
Description
The player in the centre of the circle starts to spin madly. They may close their eyes, they may count to ten, they may be silent. The goal of the player in the center is to “surprise” one of the players in the circle. The player in the center must make a strong and clear choice about which player in the circle has been “surprised.”
The player in the center will yell “bippity bippity bop” as fast as possible. If the “surprised” player in the circle does not say “bop” before the player in the center yells “bippity bippity bop” the surprised player goes into the center of the circle.
There is other linguistic trickery that can allow the player in the center to escape. If the player in the center yells “bop.” The “surprised” player must remain stoically silent. If they say “bop” they have been made a fool of and now must head into the center of the circle of shame.
While I have been poking fun at this warm up it can be useful for warming up both commitment and listening. Players must be listening to the cue of being pointed at. Folks who overthink and worry about how they appear can get some help warming up their commitment.
Bippity Bippity Bop is a name with two structures. Let your house decide which you will use, but be aware the there is Bippity Bippity Bop and then there is Bippity Bippity Bop.
Gimmicks
Give the player in the center a really long phrase other than Bippity Bippity Bop to say.
Variations
- Bippity Bippity BunnBop – Instead of yelling “bippity bippity bop” the player in the center “surprises” a player who becomes the centerpiece of a 3 part bunny character.
- Bippity Bippity Bopaphant – Instead of yelling “bippity bippity bop” the player in the center “surprises” a player who becomes the centerpiece of a 3 part elephant character.
Credits
Summer camps throughout the ages. I also took the liberty of renaming the elephant and bunny subs of Bippity Bippity Bop.