Ten to One
Three rounds. By the last one nobody is saying a number at all.
A countdown that loses its numbers a round at a time. First the room counts ten to one out loud. Then every odd number becomes a shouted YEAH. Then every even number becomes a clap — and by the third round the room is going clap, YEAH, clap, YEAH with no numbers left in it. The laugh is always the same: somewhere around round three half the room starts saying the word “clap” out loud instead of clapping, and that is exactly where you stop.
Three rounds, counting down from ten. Round one, we just count out loud. Round two, every odd number becomes YEAH instead of the number — ten, YEAH, eight, YEAH. Round three, every even number becomes a clap, so it goes clap, YEAH, clap, YEAH all the way to one. Never say a number you have replaced.
A big room needs one loud thing it does together — opening a day, coming back from a break, or sending everyone off at the end.
Props: None
Run this when…
If none of these is your room, pick another.Opening a conference or a large session
Bringing four hundred people back from a break
The last thirty seconds before something big
How to run it
Written to be glanced at mid-room, not memorised.
- Everyone stands. Nobody moves from their spot, so it works in the tightest seating.
- Round one: a plain countdown from ten, out loud, all together. Six seconds, and it gets the room making noise before any rule exists.
- Round two: “every odd number becomes YEAH — don't say the number.” Ten, YEAH, eight, YEAH. Go straight into it; do not rehearse single numbers.
- Round three: “now every even number becomes a clap.” That leaves no numbers at all — clap, YEAH, clap, YEAH, down to one.
- Run round three twice, louder the second time, and conduct the last three beats with your hands.
- Stop the moment the room starts saying the word “clap” out loud instead of clapping. That is the joke landing, and it is the ending.
- Arms in the air on the last YEAH, then hold the silence for two seconds before you speak.
Running it well
Only the host sees these. Participants never do.
- Count it with them, loudly, and conduct the last three beats with your hands. This one wants a leader — the version where nobody leads is quieter and much flatter.
- Somewhere in round three a good half of the room will start shouting the word “clap” rather than clapping. Do not correct it. It is the funniest thing that happens and it is your cue to finish.
- One round at a time, in order. Explaining all three rules up front turns a game into a set of instructions, and the wobble as each new rule lands is where the laugh is.
- Hold the silence after the last beat for a full two seconds before you say anything. That gap is the whole ending.
Watch out for
Space, safety and the traps worth knowing before you start.
- It gets genuinely loud with a large room. Check what is happening next door before you run it, and warn them if the wall is thin.
- Loud noise and sudden clapping are painful for some people. Say once at the start that anybody who would rather sit it out or keep their hands down should, and mean it.
- Nobody moves from their spot, which is what makes it work in packed rows and tiered seating.
Already seated
Nobody has to stand for this one.
It works entirely seated — the shout, the clap and the arms in the air all happen from a chair, which is exactly how it runs in a lecture theatre.
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.
Start freeAlready have an account? Sign in
- Where
- Needs a room
- Props
- None
- Big screen
- Required
- Teams
- Individual only