For those of you who don't know, Andy
Kaufman was a comedian who was famous for doing comedy that he found
funny, often at the expense of his audience. This included such
things as tricking his audience into thinking that their TV was
broken during his show by broadcasting static, or during his stand up
telling audiences that he was going to read them The Great
Gatsby, followed by him actually doing it until many audience members
had left. While this is not all he did, and it certainly was not his
intent, the behaviour translates pretty well to game.
I was over at Ishmael's house, when he
showed me a text that he had received from a girl he was gaming at
work. She had sent him the following image.
He asked for what a good game response
would be and what resulted (with both of us collaborating) is the
following text exchange (to the best of my memory).
Him: Aww, don't feel bad [presuming
that the cat statement applies to her and not him]. I'll tell you
what. Come into work tomorrow and I'll roll you in pancakes.
Her: huh...
Her: was that text meant for me?
Him: Yes. About the cats.
Her: Ishmael you're not making any
sense.
Her: What's roll you in pancakes mean?
Him: If I'm not making sense it's only
because of kung fu lazers and starvation.
Her: hahaha... huh.
Her: I still don't get what your
saying. Are you going to feed me pancakes?
Him: Kate! This is serious business.
They make you take an animal wife!
Her: What?
Her: Are you trying to tell me that you
married your cat?
Him: No. I rolled her in pancakes.
...
It went on ending with some more normal
conversation such as “how was work?” At the time I was not sure
of how well it had gone. I admit that I had largely given texting
ideas that I found funny more so then what I found gamish. None of it
had seemed overtly beta, but it was hardly optimised either. And
some basic texting rules had been broken, such as the 3:2 ratio. But
the next day report was glowing. At work she had been all over him
asking “What does 'roll you in pancakes' mean?” And by denying
her that bit of information he was making her pursue him.
So the end verdict is that though
Kaufman game might not be the most optimised form of game, it's still
effective. It also has the benefit of wrapping up a bunch of game
concepts into one simple rule: do I find this funny or do I see this
making for a funny story to be told to those not involved. If the
answer is yes and you have the courage to then act on your impulse,
then off the top of my head you're:
- Making yourself stand out.
- Outcome independent (if your action's don't incite attraction, well it's still going to be kind of funny).
- Exhibiting bemused mastery.
