Reaction Race
Four commands. You'll still get caught out.
Four physical commands, called faster and faster, with the occasional deliberate trick. Nobody is out and nothing is scored — the laugh comes from an entire room doing the wrong thing in unison. It is the shortest activity here and the one most likely to be asked for again.
Stand where you are and face me. Four commands: clap, down, turn, freeze. I'll start slow. I will also try to catch you out, and it will work.
You need the room awake right now, you have no floor space, and you cannot spend more than three minutes on it.
Props: None
Run this when…
If none of these is your room, pick another.Ninety seconds to bring a room back after a break
A very large group with no space to move around
Straight before something that needs concentration
How to run it
Written to be glanced at mid-room, not memorised.
- Everyone stands where they are and faces you. No space needed beyond arm's length.
- Set four commands: CLAP, DOWN (crouch), TURN (all the way round), FREEZE.
- Walk through each one once, slowly.
- Start calling them at a steady pace.
- Speed up gradually over about a minute.
- Start playing: say CLAP while crouching yourself, or call the same command three times.
- Finish with ten seconds of rapid-fire, then FREEZE.
Running it well
Only the host sees these. Participants never do.
- Nobody is ever out. The moment you eliminate people, the ones who most needed waking up are sitting down again.
- Doing the wrong action yourself while calling the right one is the single best trick. Save it for the last thirty seconds.
- Keep your own voice sharp and short. Long sentences between commands let the energy leak away.
Watch out for
Space, safety and the traps worth knowing before you start.
- DOWN is a crouch, not a drop to the floor. Say so, and offer a hands-to-knees version.
- TURN needs room to turn. In tight rows, swap it for a half turn.
- Check for anyone who would rather not crouch and give the alternative before you start, not after.
Seated version
“Everybody stand up” is not a neutral instruction. Offer this alongside, not instead.
All four work seated: CLAP unchanged, DOWN is head and shoulders down, TURN is a twist to look behind, FREEZE unchanged.
Variations
For the second time you run it with the same group.
- Let a participant call the last thirty seconds.
- Add a fifth command halfway through without explaining it and let them work it out.
Run it yourself
Free for thirty days, no card. Put it on the projector and step through it — nobody in the room needs a phone.
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- Where
- Needs a room
- Props
- None
- Big screen
- Required
- Teams
- Individual only