Social Nonsense: Creative Diversions for Two or More Players - Anytime, Anywhere

by Doug J Shaw, Courtney Beadel (Designed by)

Overview

Social Nonsense is a collection of fun activities you can do after you’ve ordered at a restaurant and are waiting for your food; when everyone is chilling in your living or dorm room; when you want to have kids do an interesting and creative activity in a group setting; whenever you have a little extra time with your friends and your hands are moving dangerously close to your phones.

Collaborative art, writing, or storytelling can unlock surprising truths, and show people they are more creative than they know. These games are fun … even for people who would never say they're “creative,” who don’t think they can draw, write, or tell stories, and normally don’t do this sort of thing. Each activity is accompanied by instructions, examples, and commentary.

Put away your screens and enjoy creating something memorable!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733283625
Publisher:	Douglas Shaw
Publication date:	08/13/2019
Pages:	150
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.32(d)

About the Author

Doug Shaw is a mathematics professor who has won many awards for his teaching. He's also been a systems engineer, emcee, keynote speaker, street-busker, variety show performer, comedy troupe director, cheese slicer, and elected member of the Cedar Falls school board. He's facilitated workshops about teaching, mathematics, improv, creativity, innovation, and all sorts of things since 1995 in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Montreal. He's waiting to be invited to present in Hawaii, Scotland, or any other place his family wants to visit.

Courtney Beadel is a creative freelancer based out of Minneapolis, where she lives with her husband and four cats. Her primary work currently is in UI/UX Design but she also enjoys other types of graphic design work as well. In her free time, she writes sci-fi romance novels and geeks out over simulation video games. She was one of the selected winners of the 2010 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Jill Bernard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Exquisite Corpse (Sentence). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Exquisite Corpse (Drawing). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Pictures & Phrases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Story Spine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Exquisite Corpse (Word). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Foreign Poet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

One Word Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Opposites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Essence of a Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Backstory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Modern Dictionary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Bookmarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Restaurant Bingo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

Blindfolded object. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

Portkey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Sorting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

The Bridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Automatic Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103

Automatic Drawing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Story Spine, Revisited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Boggle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117

Fast Food Joyce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Portkey, Revisited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Dada Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Facilitating Tips!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

Share!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138

About The Author! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

About You!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Acknowledgements!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

Bibliography!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Editorial Reviews

"Dr. Doug Shaw’s book allows people to unplug from their devices and reconnect with friends and family. This opportunity to engage in interactive, creative experiences is the perfect antidote to our society’s obsession with screens and social media. The book is not only fun, but also promotes mental health and wellness." — Dr. Jenna Z. Berendzen, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner

"Doug Shaw's Social Nonsense is brilliant. Okay...maybe brilliant is an overused word. So it's "bright." No...actually it IS brilliant. Because brilliant means he's taken something simple and made it bright. That's what improv is all about. The reward then comes from us as we play. And learn. And teach. And laugh. And think. And listen. You know...when we are brilliant." — Gary Kroeger: Former Writer / Actor, Saturday Night Live, CEO Outlier Creative Solutions.

"I have many memories of being in different places with Doug Shaw: Restaurants, cars, weddings, comedy shows, email chains, classrooms, business meetings, front porches, back porches, side porches, and watching Star Wars premieres at midnight. I have never been bored. Doug has a unique gift to bring an honest, unpretentious, joyful sense of play everywhere he goes. Now, he went and put it in a book. Enjoy!" — Joseph Scrimshaw: Comedian, Writer and Variety show host

From the Publisher