The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

Thumper

This is a drinking game that my sister taught me.
In order to play there must be at least 7 people,
actually the more the better. Another requirement
is that all the people must have at least a good
"buzz." This makes the game all the better.
Everyone should sit around a table with a glass of
whatever they are drinking. Now comes the fun part.
The rules of the game are not very difficult under
normal conditions. One person is chosen to be the
leader. Everyone playing has a certain sign or
symbol. These signs are usually a hand gesture or
a combination of hand gestures. The players then
go around the table to review the signs before the
game starts just to make sure they understand them.
The leader then calls the start of the game, does
their ( his or her) sign first, then another player's
sign. This other player does their sign first,
then another person's. This goes on like this in
any order until a person forgets their sign, does
a wrong sign, or signs in the wrong order. As the game
progresses the pace gradually gets to a point where
it is very fast. This all sounds easy but it can become
very confusing. I'll give an example of how it's
played with the exception of some words since they
are not appropriate. All of this is said at the top
of your lungs.
Leader: What's the name of the game?
All: Thumper!
Leader: How do you play?
All: Dirty!
Leader: How dirty?
All: #!?%'n Dirty!
Leader: (their sign ... then a player's sign)
Player: (their sign ... then a player's sign)
This goes on until someone makes a mistake then that
player must take a drink. A last note is that a player
can also pass back to the leader. This is actually
quite a fun game to watch to see everyone make fools
out of themselves.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; WARREN