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Author Topic: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing  (Read 2503 times)

pilsner

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Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« on: 21 Feb 2010, 10:50 »

I suspect some of you may be aware of these two extremely fun and borderline sociopathic games, but I feel compelled to start a thread about it so that we can formalize the rules and share our stories.

The set-up:  you and at least one other friend with similar ... tendencies are in a public place where speaking in your "private" voice can be overheard by the strangers around you.

(1) Shock Baseball:  you say shit that is odd, offensive, factually incorrect or disturbing and gauge the reaction of the people sitting around you who are trying to appear as if they cannot hear what you are saying in compliance with the social compact that most normal people follow. 

-- Stranger reacts with a facial expression:  A single.

-- Stranger makes an oral non-verbal utterance:  A double.

-- Stranger gets up and leaves in a manner that suggests you were responsible for their departure:  A triple.

-- Stranger breaks into your conversation and engages you on the subject you were discussing:  In-field home run.

-- Stranger breaks into your conversation and vehemently corrects you or demands that you desist:  Grand slam.

It's important to note that speaking loudly or intentionally annoyingly is cheating.  The fun is in seeing how you can play with social conventions through the content of your conversation, and there can be a bit of one-upmanship as you and a friend play a game of "Chicken" seeing you can get a reaction first without totally passing the boundaries of decency.

(2) Table fishing:  same set-up, but a much more civilized game.  Once again you are having a conversation.  The point is to make it so interesting, so insightful, so sparkling and witty that the stranger who is pretending not to hear feels compelled to join in.  Extroverts tend to like this, introverts tend to hate it and will often leave.  Again, normal speaking voice, not loud or anything, the game is in the content.

So?  Are you going to play?
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Patrick

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #1 on: 21 Feb 2010, 21:00 »

I'm the goddamn Babe Ruth of Shock Baseball

That game is a game for infants on BART
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Liz

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #2 on: 21 Feb 2010, 21:52 »

Mai unintentionally hit a triple in Chicago while we were waiting in line at Hot Doug's for our tasty sausages. It was pretty great.
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tania

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #3 on: 22 Feb 2010, 05:51 »

i can definitely recall several instances in my life where i have been talking about things with friends that, although they were probably fairly weird topics, i did not think were particularly offensive or cringe-worthy but regardless were apparently enough to drive people nearby to interrupt in order to tell us (honestly not exaggerated) that we were absolutely horrible people in every single conceivable way who had completely ruined their day. i can't recall the subject of any of those conversations, though.

i would love to participate but nowadays i can't because i work seven days a week and i have no friends anymore but maybe i will revisit this thread once i have some semblance of a social life again because dang does this happen to me a lot.
« Last Edit: 22 Feb 2010, 07:01 by tania »
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Ptommydski

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #4 on: 22 Feb 2010, 06:09 »

JC needs to tell the story from which the phrase "shit be fucked up, boys" originated.
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est

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #5 on: 23 Feb 2010, 02:01 »

My mate & I used to do this a while back, but without the scoring & only it was done while walking past someone as if you were in the middle of a horrible conversation.  It was also tempered with a liberal dose of saying subtle things that we knew would make the other person upset if you took them seriously.  We just called it "Life trolling".
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est

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #6 on: 23 Feb 2010, 02:02 »

Ostensibly we did it to harden each other up, but maybe we're both just cunts.
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scarred

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #7 on: 23 Feb 2010, 03:19 »

I do this unintentionally a lot, but that is because when Seattle is not insanely faggy liberal they are insanely conservative, and I tend to offend pretty much anyone who falls into that latter category simply by existing.
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Inlander

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #8 on: 23 Feb 2010, 06:31 »

These games aren't really my cup of tea, however I have in my school days enjoyed planting some of William Blake's proverbs of Hell, from the Marriage of Heaven and Hell, into games of Chinese Whispers. As a rule they don't change much as they go round the circle, but the look on a person's face when somebody leans over and whispers in their ear "The cut worm forgives the plough", is quite cherishable.
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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #9 on: 23 Feb 2010, 11:47 »

I think I was the third party in a game of shock baseball this afternoon...

At least it would rationally explain why someone would be discussing the origins of the consistency of his shit with someone else.
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pilsner

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #10 on: 23 Feb 2010, 11:52 »

It's hard to tell when someone is playing Shock Baseball, and when they are simply really poorly socialized.

One of the worst conversations I've ever been privy to was one I overheard at food court above a bus depot in Montreal.  There's a man and a woman, both in their mid to late 30s, apparently co-workers, chatting awkwardly.  The woman is attractive and guy is nebbish looking.  Now I tend to identify and sympathize with the nebbish types, which makes the following difficult to relate.


Woman:  I need to go to the ladies room.

Woman leaves and returns.

long pause

Man:  So was it Number 1 or Number 2?

Woman: stunned silence

curtains
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Theriandros

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #11 on: 23 Feb 2010, 11:54 »

Okay, so that's one nebbish guy. This was two guys conversing, with the dude who brought the topic up being dressed in business casual.
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jhocking

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #12 on: 25 Feb 2010, 19:16 »

I used to do this with clothing. Sometimes I would wear like a shirt with a slogan I loathed to see how people would respond. Most people just ignore young guys wearing offensive clothing, but I once had a guy stop me on the sidewalk to try to convince me to see a therapist.

Mai unintentionally hit a triple in Chicago while we were waiting in line at Hot Doug's for our tasty sausages. It was pretty great.

You're just going to leave us hanging like that?
« Last Edit: 25 Feb 2010, 19:21 by jhocking »
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E. Spaceman

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Re: Shock Baseball and Table Fishing
« Reply #13 on: 25 Feb 2010, 22:48 »

We started discussing how animals turn into delicious sausages, specifically the foie gras sausage. The group ahead of us left and went to the back of the queue. This was after about 45 mins of waiting and they were only another 20 or so people from the end.
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