Party acts that hype up the crowd: Recommended entertainment and performances for banquets and drinking parties [2026]
Farewell and welcome parties at work, year-end and New Year gatherings, after-parties with friends, and class reunions.
There are quite a lot of banquets and drinking parties, aren’t there?
They’re basically fun, but there’s one time that troubles new hires, young employees, and juniors… yes, the “entertainment segment”!
People often say, “Do something!” or “Can’t you do something funny?” and you end up covering it with an awkward smile, right?
In this article, we’ll introduce lots of recommended ideas for when you can’t dodge party entertainment, including skits and performances everyone can do together.
Be sure to use it as a reference when you’re in a pinch!
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Party tricks that get everyone excited: Recommended performances and acts for banquets and drinking parties [2026] (41–50)
Sunshine Ikezaki
Doing Sunshine Ikezaki’s routine at a party would take a ton of courage, but at parties, bits you can pull off with just your body and sheer hype might actually land better.
And that tank top and headband look—people will get who you’re doing even if you don’t look much like him (lol).
It could even work just for your self-introduction.
Party tricks that liven things up: Recommended entertainment and performances for banquets and drinking parties [2026] (51–60)
yo-yo
We’re introducing yo-yo tricks that are easy for beginners to try.
If you can show off some cool moves with a portable yo-yo, you’ll be the center of attention at parties.
Men in particular might feel a wave of nostalgia.
The featured set includes 10 tricks, such as Gravity Pull, Long Sleeper, Around the World, Tower, and Inside Loop.
They’re presented in order from easiest to harder, so practice and master them one by one.
flash mob dance
Flash mobs that bring unexpected emotion to proposals and parties are a tempting choice for entertainment.
Yamauchi from the comedy duo Kamaitachi pulled off a huge gag by attempting a flash mob all by himself at his partner Hamaie’s wedding.
We wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re very brave… Since it’s mainly dancing, it may require a longer practice period than other performances.
It’s reassuring if you have a few people with dance experience.
For company events, it might be fun to divide into teams—like a junior team and a veteran team—and perform that way!
Telepathy Gesture Game
It’s no exaggeration to say that gesture games have long been a pillar of Japanese variety shows, and they’re always a hit as party entertainment.
Here, instead of a typical communication-style gesture game, we’ll introduce a telepathy-style version that tests whether two people are on the same wavelength.
First, present a prompt.
If the two performers make the same gesture, it’s a correct answer.
For example, if the prompt is “baseball” and one person acts as a batter while the other acts as a pitcher, that’s a miss.
It’s even more fun if you set up a screen so they can’t see each other’s gestures!
Hilarious tablecloth pull
Speaking of the New Year’s staple TV show “Celebrity Hidden Talent Contest,” Masakazu Sakai’s tablecloth-pulling act was a huge hit.
If you’re around your 50s, you probably watched it every year.
More recently, Wes-P has been in the spotlight.
He even performed a tablecloth pull on his stomach and competed on “Got Talent.” With tablecloth pulling being such a hot topic, it’s guaranteed to get the crowd going.
It does require some practice time, but it’s not impossibly difficult, right? If you’re thinking about picking up a new act, give it a try!
chugging a cola in seconds
It’s a party trick of chugging cola.
Prepare some cola and a wide-mouthed glass, then open your mouth wide and drink it down in one go… I’m not sure if anyone can actually pull it off, but if you succeed, you’re sure to get a round of applause and become the life of the party.
3 o’clock Heroine: “Common Tropes in Foreign TV Dramas”
3-ji no Heroine, who won “The W: Japan’s No.1 Female Comedian Contest” in 2019.
Why not try reenacting the classic “that always happens” scenes from foreign TV dramas that they posted on YouTube at your next party? Foreign dramas tend to have strong character traits and lots of stereotypical, nod-along moments, so watching people act them out can be pretty funny.
For example: baffling metaphors, characters somehow speaking long lines in perfect unison with two or more people, or someone finishing another person’s sentence—things like that.
If you perform those unmistakable “yep, that happens” moments in an over-the-top, foreign-drama style, it’ll definitely get the crowd going!
