Celebrity Group Games

Amusing audience-style group game with lots of laughter.

 Fun Games
 Communication, Collaboration and Having Fun
6 – 15 minutes
1 – 8, 9 – 16, 17 – 30, 31+
Children, Youth, Adults
Low

Step by Step Instructions

  • Before the game, prepare some index cards with celebrity names on them.
  • When you have the group altogether, ask for 4 volunteers to step forward
    and take a place on chairs facing the group or audience.
  • Find a way to attach or stick the index cards to the foreheads of the volunteers. Ensure the volunteer does not see what is written on the cards.
  • The volunteers are required to guess the celebrity written on their card. In
    order to identify the celebrity, they can only ask ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions and
    should try to guess correctly with the least amount of questions.
  • Each volunteer can only ask one question at a time before moving on to the
    next volunteer.
  • The volunteers keep asking questions until they can guess correctly who
    their celebrity is.
  • Whoever comes up with the correct answer first, is the winner of the game.
  • Carry on playing, so everybody can have a turn.

Props

  • Index cards or labels
  • List of famous and/or celebrity names
  • Marker
  • Sticky tape or hats

How to Play

The game starts out with some preparation, collect some blank labels or index cards
and write some celebrity names on each of them. Here are some examples:

  • Nelson Mandela
  • Brad Pitt
  • Cristiano Ronaldo
  • Tiger Woods
  • Donald Trump
  • Christiaan Barnard
  • Albert Einstein etc.

To make it more challenging, add a few lesser-known famous people. Have the group come together and seat themselves facing 4 chairs. Ask some volunteers to take a seat on these chairs, they will now be facing the rest of the group. These volunteers will represent famous people or celebrities written on the cards. Take some of the cards with the names on them and stick them onto the volunteer’s forehead. The volunteers must not see what is written on the cards. Make sure everybody in the group or audience can clearly see what is written on the cards.

At this stage, you might have some laughter coming from the audience when they
see the names on the volunteer’s foreheads. Some of the names might be an unusual match.

The aim of the game is; each volunteer must try to uncover the identity of the
famous person or celebrity that is written on the card. The volunteer must ask their audience a number of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. The audience must then respond with either ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

The game will proceed as follows; a ‘celebrity’ will ask a question and the audience
will respond with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The next ‘celebrity’ will then ask their question and
receive a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. This will continue until a ‘celebrity’ can guess correctly who they are.

In order for the game not to carry on for too long, challenge the players to identify
their celebrity name with 10 questions or less. The audience can enjoy the game, as
they already know what is written down. What makes it even more amusing, is the
frustration of the volunteer ‘celebrities’ struggling to come up with the correct answer.

Once a ‘celebrity’ guesses correctly, have them swap places with somebody else in
the audience and continue with the game. You could also wait until all ‘celebrities’
have guessed correctly before swapping over with 4 new players.

Useful Framing Ideas

Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to be a celebrity? You’ve come to
the right place, the game we are about to play will at least give you a glimpse. Do you
think you have sound general knowledge; how well can you actually know a person
by only reading about them? Today you will get your chance to prove yourself.

Practical Leadership Tips

You don’t have to stick to four chairs, you can also go up to eight chairs if you have a
larger group. Although, having any more than this could become difficult to manage.
One issue that could cause problems, is attaching the index card to the forehead.
Sticky tape or some other adhesive may cause irritation if placed directly on the
skin. A better alternative would be to have a few caps or hats available and to stick
the cards onto these.

When handing out the cards, some players may get easy well-known names, that
they can easily guess within a short time. Others may get names that are a bit more
difficult and will, therefore, take longer to guess correctly. If this is the case and the
player is struggling, feel free to add in a clue here and there to help out.

The game requires players to sit facing a group of people, which may be intimidating
to some. This is especially true for those who might struggle to guess the correct
celebrity. So as not to pressure anyone into playing, make sure to get players who
have volunteered and are willing to participate.

You might get a volunteer who sneaks a peek at the other cards while playing. This
is okay, as long as they don’t say anything, the game will continue as it should.

Debrief and Reflection Tips & Strategies

Here are some questions to ask the group, which will help them to process their
experience of the game ‘Celebrity Head’.

  • What was it like to know that others knew something you did not?
  • As an audience member, what was it like to know something that others did not?
  • Thinking of situations in your life, was there a time when you were left in the
    dark about something? Was there something significant you learned from
    that situation?

Popular Variations

  • One of Us: This can be played successfully with larger groups. Instead of
    writing celebrity names down, write down group member names. If one of
    the players get their own name, no worries, it can be rather entertaining
    watching them try to guess their own name.
  • Alternatives: Instead of famous names, write down place names, well-known
    landmarks, or different countries etc.
  • Questions: Have one player ask questions until they get a ‘no’ from the
    audience. When this happens, move onto the next player.
  • ‘Who am I’ is another fun Ice-breaker game and group activity.

Benefits

  • Very fun & playful
  • Simple to play
  • Encourages critical-thinking skills
  • Best for large groups