The Memory Challenge

The other night I discovered a new game for the ‘over 50′ crowd. I was at a dinner party and a group of us were chatting about who knows what when suddenly I was trying to remember the name of the actor who starred in a 1970s (or ’80s) television cop show and had not too long ago been on trial for killing his wife.

We all stumbled into memory lane for a few minutes trying to recall the actor and show when an actress suddenly shouts out — “I was on that show… it’s called Buratta”… as we all jumped up with an excited unified ‘Yes’… and then a momentary pause with thoughts of Heirloom tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, another person said… “No, no… it’s Baretta!!!”… oh yeah we were now getting close…

Closer, closer… warmer, warmer.

“But what was the actor’s name?”… uhhhh…” and then out of somewhere in the back of my mind came clear as a bell “blake” and everyone cheered…

But what was his FIRST name???

William?… no that’s the poet…
Edward?… no that’s Blake Edwards…

We all struggled a few more minutes when my husband yelped “Robert, it’s Robert!”

Ahhhh… the sound swept around our 6-person team as we realized we had finished our quest and in moment as fast as the initial query was posed, we had moved on to another topic.

It occurred to me later that night that we have in our midst a parlor game that requires very little preparation and certainly no props. In contrast to charades, Taboo, or cards, this parlor game is just called,

The Memory Challenge.
Ages: 50 and over.
Number of players: 2 or more (level of difficulty inversely proportional to number of players).
How to Play:
Think of an actor or television show or movie or book and throw out the question to the group:
“What is the name of the guy that married the girl that starred in the movie about falling in love from the ’70s where she dies in the end?”

“What’s the name of that woman that was in that television series about people that moved to a farm from NYC… you know there was a pig in it…”

It’s hilarious… and so addictive I seem to be playing it all the time.