By genre and group size: A must-see for organizers! A catalog of crowd-pleasing activities
There are many occasions where you’re asked to put on a performance, like at wedding after-parties, year-end parties, New Year’s gatherings, and thank-you parties.
We often hear concerns from those in charge of entertainment, such as: “I can’t think of an idea,” or “What kind of act would everyone enjoy together?”
Key points for choosing are: something short and concise, enjoyable for all ages and genders, simple and easy to understand, and not vulgar.
In this article, we’ll introduce recommended entertainment ideas that meet the above criteria.
Wishing you a successful performance and a lively, memorable event!
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[By Genre and Group Size] A Must-See for Organizers! A Catalog of Crowd-Pleasing Performances (11–20)
Arm wrestling tournament
How about trying arm wrestling—a game that doesn’t take up space and can get everyone excited? Split into men’s and women’s brackets, set up a tournament, and compete for the championship! You might discover unexpected sides of people: a big, muscular guy who’s actually weak at arm wrestling, or a slender, usually gentle woman with surprising strength.
Offering a small prize for the winner will make it even more fun!
Table-versus-table quiz
How about trying a table-versus-table quiz where each table forms a team, like at a wedding? People are often seated with relatives or friends, but even if you’re sitting with strangers, you can cooperate on the quiz, get excited together, and end up becoming friends—two birds with one stone! Turning family in-jokes and “relatable” stories into quiz questions really gets the crowd going.
Physical Fitness Measurement Competition
All you need are the participants’ bodies! Compete in strength with sit-ups, push-ups, or arm wrestling, and check flexibility with things like forward bends.
Competing in one-legged stands to test balance should be exciting too.
Everything can be done on the spot, so there’s no need for special equipment—that’s part of the appeal.
However, as things heat up, movements can get bigger, so make sure to secure a spacious area and keep safety in mind.
The “No Laughing” series
Recreate the famous New Year’s TV special “No Laughing” series! Set a rule where everyone watches short funny videos, and anyone who laughs gets a penalty.
With just the video playlist prepared, you can run this at any venue.
These days there are tons of funny clips on TikTok and elsewhere, so you might even have fun just collecting them!
Bubble Dance
The “Bubble Dance” became a hot topic after the dance team from Osaka Prefectural Toin High School performed it.
Dancing to Yoko Oginome’s 1985 hit “Dancing Hero (Eat You Up)” in flashy outfits with shoulder pads reminiscent of the bubble era made a big impact.
How about giving the Bubble Dance a try yourself? Whether you experienced the bubble era or not, we encourage you to dance it! Add moves that evoke the bubble economy, coordinate your outfits with a bubbly flair, and go all-in on that bubble vibe! Besides Yoko Oginome’s track, it’s also recommended to try your favorite songs that were popular during the bubble era.
Parody movie of a film
How about making a video that parodies memorable scenes from movies? There are plenty of moments you could use—dance sequences, scenes with striking exchanges, or, in the case of fantasy films, scenes where characters use magic.
You don’t have to recreate them perfectly; just getting close is enough.
What matters in parody videos is that it resembles the original but ends up being funny somehow.
Exaggerating things a bit is one approach, too.
Even serious scenes can become a little humorous—try making a fun video like that!
Sync movie
A synchro movie is where you perfectly match completely unrelated movements with a song so it looks like they’re synchronized.
It might be hard to find clips that fit well, but once it comes together, it’s sure to be a hit! If you can’t dance but want to do something fun, why not give it a try? There are lots of helpful examples on video sites and social media, so be sure to check them out.
A great recommendation is pairing comical Japanese music with footage of overseas dancing or other kinds of movement.
Create a video that will make your viewers—and you—laugh!
Ranking Battle
“Geinoujin Kakuzuke Check,” a show aired around New Year’s, has contestants look at, listen to, or taste a high-end item and a cheaper one and guess which is the expensive one.
It’s a fun program that lets you laugh while seeing whether celebrities really have top-tier sensibilities.
Let’s imitate the show and use easily obtainable items to see if we can pick the pricey ones and check how ‘first-class’ we are! There are plenty of simple ways to do it: compare slightly upscale fruits, vegetables, or meats with affordable supermarket options, or use video sites to test whether a performance is by a professional or an amateur.
If you want to stay true to the show, you could even downgrade the treatment of those who guess wrong as you go along.
Impersonation
Everyone, do you have any go-to impressions or a repertoire of mimicry? I always think people who have those are really strong—they can just show them off anywhere on the spot.
So how about taking this opportunity to learn one or two? If you pick a mega-famous celebrity or a beloved national anime character, it’ll land well with people of any age and you can perform it anywhere, which is a great advantage.
If you’re good at singing, vocal impressions work too.
I think it would really liven things up!
chorus
Choral singing is an easy performance that can be done using only the voices of the people present! As for what to prepare, having an accompaniment track or a piano or guitar, and some lyric sheets will let you sing with confidence.
In a large group chorus, everyone can sing together, so even those who aren’t confident in singing can join in easily.
If you choose a well-known song that everyone knows, you won’t even need to prepare lyric sheets!
