The Wave
A stadium wave round the room. Then two at once, going opposite ways.
A wave travels round the room, and once it works you send two in opposite directions and let them collide. It scales to any number, needs nothing, and the collision is the moment everyone enjoys.
When the wave reaches you, stand, throw your arms up, and sit back down. Watch the person before you, not me. Let's get one all the way round first.
A very large room needs to do something together and there is no space to move at all.
Props: None
Run this when…
If none of these is your room, pick another.A conference hall or auditorium
A room seated in tight rows
Any group too big for anything requiring space
How to run it
Written to be glanced at mid-room, not memorised.
- Everyone stays exactly where they are.
- Show it: stand, arms up, sit down. It takes one second.
- Start the wave at one end and let it travel all the way round or across.
- Go again faster. Then slow motion, which is funnier than it sounds.
- Now start two waves at opposite ends going towards each other.
- Let them collide. That is the finish.
Running it well
Only the host sees these. Participants never do.
- Watch the person before you, not the facilitator. A room watching you produces a ragged mess; a room watching each other produces a wave.
- Slow motion is worth including. It is unexpectedly funny and it gives the room something other than speed to enjoy.
- The two-wave collision is the payoff, so do not spend so long on the first version that you run out of appetite before you get there.
Watch out for
Space, safety and the traps worth knowing before you start.
- Standing up fast in tight rows knocks things over. Say leave your things on the floor before you start.
- Anyone who cannot stand quickly can do it with arms only from their seat and the wave still reads perfectly.
Already seated
Nobody has to stand for this one.
It is already seated. The arms-only version works just as well and is what you use in very tight rows.
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