Following on from yesterdays post about hand to hand combat in the schoolyard, today I thought I'd scribble about other forms of Sixties and Seventies juvenile tomfoolery done mostly but not exclusively with the hands!
1. Broken Egg Over Head
This was basically a party trick, whereby a kid was asked to sit on a chair. Another kid would then pretend to crack an imaginary chicken's egg over the sitter's noggin and replicate the running yolk by slowly sliding their hands down the sides of the sitter's head. This was usually accompanied by someone saying 'The yolks on him!'
2. Grandad's Nose Grab
Often executed by Grandad this simple illusion involved him grabbing a child's nose with thumb and index finger, which could be slightly painful owing to the sensitive nature of the infant conk. Whilst explaining that the tip of the nose had actually been removed, Grandad would then reveal that it was actually still in his hand. The grand finale was said nose being seen between his two top knuckles, which was in reality his trapped Grandad thumb! I fell for it every time!
3. Tripping Up
For some reason kids love to trip each other up. Regardless of the location - the street, the park, the school corridor [especially there] or the hospital, a juvenile leg will be seen to shoot out and send another child flying. This may just be a boy thing. It was known in my school as 'legging someone up' in the Sixties.
4. The Armpit Wet Trump
No contact is made with anyone else for this party piece but it's general impact makes it worthy of inclusion here. The wet trump sound was created by placing one hand under the opposite armpit and thereby cupping a pocket of air there. The shoulder above this armpit is then pumped over the trapped hand in a strong bellows-like motion until a moist raspberry is clearly produced. A successful arm burp may require priming with several pumps. Creating the perfect shoulder guff was a skilled job but when delivered near someone else it could be devastating, particularly if the exponent was able to walk away without being seen at a wedding reception or Aunt's party!
5. The Love Bite
The Love bite or hicky was essentially a modest crime of passion. It was generated by sucking on the skin of, in my case, a girlfriend's neck, although it had universal applicability. The result was a rather painful looking bruise, which waxed and waned through the colour spectrum as time went on: blue to purple to mucky yellow. Worn with pride by the wearer, the love bite was there for all the biter's amorous rivals to see as it loudly proclaimed 'lips off! this neck is mine!'
6. The Arm Raiser
This piece of body magic was a staple of kids' sleep-overs everywhere. Everyone could do it together, all you needed was a wall, preferably indoors. Facing the wall, both hands would be placed on it with palms facing the body. The backs of the hands would then be pressed hard against this surface for at least one minute, the harder the pushing the better. After a minute the child steps back and watches with amazement as both arms appear to rise towards the ceiling Frankenstein-style!
7. The Body Lifter
An extreme variation of number 6, the full body lift was as close to levitation as you could ever get at a tenth birthday party. With a big LETHAL sticker slapped all over this prank, it was only ever undertaken by the most curious of juveniles.
To deliver the body lift a volunteer would sit on a chair. A minimum of four lifters would stand around the sitter, each one placing a finger beneath the two armpits and knees respectively. A fifth person, the most important and the most dangerous, would stand behind the sitter and place both hands on the top of their head.
At an agreed point the handler would press down on the head with considerable force for at least a minute. Again, the longer the press the better the effect. After a minute the pressing would cease and all five would then appear to lift the sitter with just one finger!
Even Houdini would have been a agape! For an even more dramatic lift all FIVE standers would press on the sitter's head! Clearly not recommended!
I'm sure there are many more physical tricks and pranks like this readers so please feel free to tell us about yours!
What about 'Stink Bombs' Woodsy. Remember the rancid stench of lingering rotten eggs... yep, that was stink bombs. Once smelled, never forgotten! Pocket money priced revenge weapons purchased from the local Joke Shop. Tiny toxic glass torpedo's which could be carefully placed under the chair leg of an unsuspecting classmate or dropped in the doorway of a football confiscating neighbour. I wonder if they're still made or sold? Maybe they were rightly banned by Geneva?
ReplyDeleteStink Bombs were so cool and so effective. Never niff them anymore. An excellent prelude were Whoopee Cushions, which I bet you can still get. Everyone could do a world-class guff with a whoopee cushion!
DeleteAh yes, Whoopee cushions... great fun Woodsy... especially when my dear old granny would visit for Christmas dinner all those years ago. Thankfully whoopee cushions are still going strong. My youngest daughter bought one recently and had hours of fun at my expense. Poetic justice I guess. I think Whoopee cushions, like Carry On films, have a fond place in the collective psyche of British humour and practical jokes.
ReplyDelete