Carnelli ©

"Carnelli" is a party game invented by Jan Carnell, a long-time member of Metropolitan Washington Mensa. A little like Charades, a little like Ghost, and a lot like free association, Carnelli requires no materials or props; players only need quick-wittedness, a good memory, and an acquaintance with modern culture.

The directions are printed here by permission of Jan Carnell and Jim Lange (a former LocSec of MWM), who own joint copyright.

Carnelli is the game of titles. It is played in a circle; four players is about the minimum. The first person gives a title; the next responds with a title connected to the first in one of the ways specified below; and so on around the circle. If a player fails to give a valid response (also see below), he/she is out. The last player to survive is the winner -- the quickest-witted of them all.

In big groups, there is a timekeeper/judge whose decisions are arbitrary, capricious, and absolutely final. The time allowed for response is decreased at the whim of the timekeeper; it generally starts out at 30 seconds, and toward the end of a game can be as short as five seconds.

Valid Title Connecters

(1) Mutual Word or Word-Element. From "Bride of Frankstein," "The Princess Bride" is perfectly good; so is "Young Einstein." Here's another: from "Outpost in Malaya" to "The Postman Always Rings Twice." Word/Word-Element is the most common Carnelli transition.

(2) Mutual Star. From "Stage Door" to "The Mothers-in-Law" is perfectly good, since both featured Eve Arden in a prominent role. Be careful, though; don't try to go from Movie A to Movie B merely on the basis that Jane Schmuck was an extra in both. (Unless, of course, everyone in the group knows that Jane Schmuck was in both movies — that once actually happened with movies featuring as an extra a well-known member of MWM.)

(3) Mutual Author/Auteur. From "Romeo and Juliet" to "Timon of Athens" is good (both by Shakespeare); so are "Interiors" to "September" (Woody Allen).

(4) Mutual Director/Performer/Participant. From "Cocoon" to "Parenthood" is perfectly good; both were directed by Ron Howard. (To continue the chain, there wouldn't be anything wrong going from "Parenthood" to "Happy Days" — and it would probably get a laugh.) It's perfectly all right to mix, too — for example, it would also be all right to go from "Cocoon" to "The Andy Griffith Show."

(5) Mutual Concept. From "Casablanca" to "Play It Again, Sam" is valid, since the latter title is "son of" the former.

(6) Mutual Producer. For example, "The Greatest American Hero," "The A-Team," and "Tenspeed and Brownshoe" were all produced by Stephen J. Cannell.

(7) Pun. One of the all-time classic Carnelli jumps was from "The Trojan Women" to "Condominium." Another good one was from "Camelot" to "Lawrence of Arabia." Be careful, though; puns are dangerous — it's too easy to get booed right out of the game.

Ways to Get Yourself Eliminated

(1) Repeat a title that was used earlier in the round. This is probably the most common way of flubbing up. Particularly in very large groups, it gets hard to remember which title was used earlier in the round you're in and which title was used two or three hours ago in a previous game.

(2) State the title incorrectly. "The Postal Carrier Always Rings Twice" might be non-sexist, but it is also not the title of the book or the movies. Similarly, "The Bareback Contessa" can't be borne.

(3) The word or phrase you gave wasn't a title but a trademark. For example, don't try to go from "Where's Poppa?" to "Snap, Crackle, Pop" — or you'll flop.

(4) Take too much time trying to think of something, anything, to stay in the game.

(5) Make a double jump. For example, if the title is "Nights in White Satin," the next title may not be "My Living Doll" — that's a double jump. "Satin Doll" is the perfectly good intermediate step, but just thinking of it isn't enough; it has to be said. Unless you're playing mandatory double-jump Carnelli (generally reserved for the seriously deranged), when you make a double or triple jump, you're out of the game.

(6) Make an inappropriate jump — for example, if it's "Sixteen Tons (and What Do You Get)" to you, you may say "Sixteen Candles," but you may not say "Eight is Enough." Similarly, you may NOT go from "The Taming of the Shrew" to "8½" just because Zeffirelli and Fellini are both Italians.

(7) Invent a title you think sounds plausible and get caught doing it. The player immediately after you is allowed to challenge you. If he/she challenges you and you gave a real title, he/she is out; if you made it up, you're out. A woman once challenged her own newly-married husband (and the challenge was sustained by the judge) because her groom tried to jump from "All About Jeeves" to "The Vanishing Cow-Creamer."

Here is a Carnelli chain written by Jim Lange and Katherine De Witt, Jr. in December 1980 and featured on the cover of the January 1981 Cap-M (newsletter of Metropolitan Washington Mensa):

"Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner," "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre," "Day of the Triffids," "Night of the Living Dead," "We the Living," "Atlas Shrugged," "Earthquake," "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "A Stillness at Appotomax," "Mr. Lincoln's Army," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Portuguese Washer Woman," "The Trojan Women," "Condominium," "Outpost in Malaya," "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Two Women," "Woman of the Year," "Years of Lightning — Day of Drums," "Long Day's Journey Into Night."