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Mad Libs

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Mad Libs is the name of a word game that uses word substitutions for humorous effect. They are especially popular with children and frequently played as a party game or as a pastime. They were invented in the 1950s by Leonard Stern and Roger Price, who published the first editions themselves.

Mad Libs consist of a book which has a short story on each page, but with many of the key words replaced with blanks. Beneath each blank it is specified the grammatical category (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) of word is supposed to be written in. One player asks the other players, in turn, to contribute some word for the specified type for each blank. (Often, the word choices of the participants border on the scatological, especially in the absence of adult supervision). Finally, the completed story is read aloud. Since none of the contributors knows what context their word will be used in, the result is usually comic, surreal and somewhat nonsensical.

Later editions of Mad Libs include a solitaire version. A handheld electronic version is currently available.

A game show version of Mad Libs hosted by former Roundhouse star David Sidoni (whom previously hosted Wheel 2000) was produced for The Disney Channel in 1998. Click here for the main article

An example of how Mad Libs work

Before starting the game, the first sentence of a Mad Lib might read:

"One day, _(name of person)_ _(past tense verb)_ to New York to see the _(noun)_.

After completing it Mad Lib, it might read:

"One day, George Washington flew to New York to see the blueberry."

Several "knock-offs" of Mad Libs have been created, most of them on the internet. Imitation Mad-Libs are sometimes used in educational settings to help teach the parts of speech.

  • The Drawn Together episode "Captain Girl" features a villain called the Mad Libber who is based on Batman's foe The Riddler. He leaves clues in the form of Mad Libs, but since the heroes, playing like typical teenagers, end up filling in every blank with the word "penis", they have a difficult time catching him.

See also

Books

  • Cool Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0843176601
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